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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text @@ -0,0 +1,12938 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Etext of In Darkest England and The Way Out +by General William Booth + +[ The founder of the Salvation Army tells of his philosophy, +motivation, and plans for the future. Set against various +tales of destitution in Victorian England. ] + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Illinois + Benedictine College" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Illinois Benedictine College". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + + +IN DARKEST ENGLAND and THE WAY OUT + +by GENERAL BOOTH + + +(this Etext comes from the 1890 1st ed. pub. The Salvation Army) + + + To the memory of the companion, counsellor, and comrade of + nearly 40 years. The sharer of my every ambition for the + welfare of mankind, my loving, faithful, and devoted wife + this book is dedicated. + + +PREFACE + +The progress of The Salvation Army in its work amongst the poor and +lost of many lands has compelled me to face the problems which an more +or less hopefully considered in the following pages. The grim +necessities of a huge Campaign carried on for many years against the +evils which lie at the root of all the miseries of modern life, +attacked in a thousand and one forms by a thousand and one lieutenants, +have led me step by step to contemplate as a possible solution of at +least some of those problems the Scheme of social Selection and +Salvation which I have here set forth. + +When but a mere child the degradation and helpless misery of the poor +Stockingers of my native town, wandering gaunt and hunger-stricken +through the streets droning out their melancholy ditties, crowding the +Union or toiling like galley slaves on relief works for a bare +subsistence kindled in my heart yearnings to help the poor which have +continued to this day and which have had a powerful influence on my +whole life. A last I may be going to see my longings to help the +workless realised. I think I am. + +The commiseration then awakened by the misery of this class has been an +impelling force which has never ceased to make itself felt during forty +years of active service in the salvation of men. During this time I am +thankful that I have been able, by the good hand of God upon me, to do +something in mitigation of the miseries of this class, and to bring not +only heavenly hopes and earthly gladness to the hearts of multitudes of +these wretched crowds, but also many material blessings, including such +commonplace things as food, raiment, home, and work, the parent of so +many other temporal benefits. And thus many poor creatures have proved +Godliness to be "profitable unto all things, having the promise of the +life that now is as well as of that which is to come." + +These results have been mainly attained by spiritual means. I have +boldly asserted that whatever his peculiar character or circumstances +might be, if the prodigal would come home to his Heavenly Father, he +would find enough and to spare in the Father's house to supply all his +need both for this world and the next; and I have known thousands nay, +I can say tens of thousands, who have literally proved this to be true, +having, with little or no temporal assistance, come out of the darkest +depths of destitution, vice and crime, to be happy and honest citizens +and true sons and servants of God. + +And yet all the way through my career I have keenly felt the remedial +measures usually enunciated in Christian programmes and ordinarily +employed by Christian philanthropy to be lamentably inadequate for any +effectual dealing with the despairing miseries of these outcast +classes. The rescued are appallingly few--a ghastly minority compared +with the multitudes who struggle and sink in the open-mouthed abyss. +Alike, therefore, my humanity and my Christianity, if I may speak of +them in any way as separate one from the other, have cried out for some +more comprehensive method of reaching and saving the perishing crowds. + +No doubt it is good for men to climb unaided out of the whirlpool on to +the rock of deliverance in the very presence of the temptations which +have hitherto mastered them, and to maintain a footing there with the +same billows of temptation washing over them. But, alas! with many +this seems to be literally impossible. That decisiveness of character, +that moral nerve which takes hold of the rope thrown for the rescue and +keeps its hold amidst all the resistances that have to be encountered, +is wanting. It is gone. +The general wreck has shattered and disorganised the whole man. + +Alas, what multitudes there are around us everywhere, many known to my +readers personally, and any number who may be known to them by a very +short walk from their own dwellings, who are in this very plight! Their +vicious habits and destitute circumstances make it certain that without +some kind of extraordinary help, they must hunger and sin, and sin and +hunger, until, having multiplied their kind, and filled up the measure +of their miseries, the gaunt fingers of death will close upon then and +terminate their wretchedness. And all this will happen this very +winter in the midst of the unparalleled wealth, and civilisation, and +philanthropy of this professedly most Christian land. + +Now, I propose to go straight for these sinking classes, and in doing +so shall continue to aim at the heart. I still prophesy the uttermost +disappointment unless that citadel is reached. In proposing to add one +more to the methods I have already put into operation to this end, do +not let it be supposed that I am the less dependent upon the old plans +or that I seek anything short of the old conquest. If we help the man +it is in order that we may change him. The builder who should elaborate +his design and erect his house and risk his reputation without burning +his bricks would be pronounced a failure and a fool. Perfection of +architectural beauty, unlimited expenditure of capital, unfailing +watchfulness of his labourers, would avail him nothing if the bricks +were merely unkilned clay. Let him kindle a fire. And so here I see +the folly of hoping to accomplish anything abiding, either in the +circumstances or the morals of these hopeless classes, except there be +a change effected in the whole man as well as in his surroundings. +To this everything I hope to attempt will tend. In many cases I shall +succeed, in some I shall fail; but even in failing of this my ultimate +design, I shall at least benefit the bodies, if not the souls, of men; +and if I do not save the fathers, I shall make a better chance for the +children. + +It will be seen therefore that in this or in any other development that +may follow I have no intention to depart in the smallest degree from +the main principles on which I have acted in the past. My only hope +for the permanent deliverance of mankind from misery, either in this +world or the next, is the regeneration or remaking of the individual by +the power of the Holy Ghost through Jesus Christ. But in providing for +the relief of temporal misery I reckon that I am only making it easy +where it is now difficult, and possible where it is now all but +impossible, for men and women to find their way to the Cross of our +Lord Jesus Christ. + +That I have confidence in my proposals goes without saying. +I believe they will work. In miniature many of them are working +already. But I do not claim that my Scheme is either perfect in its +details or complete in the sense of being adequate to combat all forms +of the gigantic evils against which it is in the main directed. +Like other human things it must be perfected through suffering. +But it is a sincere endeavour to do something, and to do it on +principles which can be instantly applied and universally developed. +Time, experience, criticism, and, above all, the guidance of God will +enable us, I hope, to advance on the lines here laid down to a true and +practical application of the words of the Hebrew Prophet: "Loose the +bands of wickedness; undo the heavy burdens; let the oppressed go free; +break every yoke; deal thy bread to the hungry; bring the poor that are +cast out to thy house. When thou seest the naked cover him and hide +not thyself from thine own flesh. Draw out thy soul to the hungry-- +Then they that be of thee shall build the old waste places and Thou +shalt raise up the foundations of many generations." + +To one who has been for nearly forty years indissolubly associated with +me in every undertaking I owe much of the inspiration which has found +expression in this book. It is probably difficult for me to fully +estimate the extent to which the splendid benevolence and unbounded +sympathy of her character have pressed me forward in the life-long +service of man, to which we have devoted both ourselves and our +children. It will be an ever green and precious memory to me that amid +the ceaseless suffering of a dreadful malady my dying wife found relief +in considering and developing the suggestions for the moral and social +and spiritual blessing of the people which are here set forth, and I do +thank God she was taken from me only when the book was practically +complete and the last chapters had been sent to the press. + +In conclusion, I have to acknowledge the services rendered to me in +preparing this book by Officers under my command. There could be no +hope of carrying out any part of it, but for the fact that so many +thousands are ready at my call and under my direction to labour to the +very utmost of their strength for the salvation of others without the +hope of earthly reward. Of the practical common sense, the resource, +the readiness for every form of usefulness of those Officers and +Soldiers, the world has no conception. Still less is it capable of +understanding the height and depth of their self-sacrificing devotion +to God and the poor. + +I have also to acknowledge valuable literary help from a friend of the +poor, who, though not in any way connected with the Salvation Army, +has the deepest sympathy with its aims and is to a large extent in +harmony with its principles. Without such assistance I should probably +have found it--overwhelmed as I already am with the affairs of a +world-wide enterprise--extremely difficult, if not impossible, to +have presented these proposals for which I am alone responsible in so +complete a form, at any rate at this time. I have no doubt that if any +substantial part of my plan is successfully carried out he will +consider himself more than repaid for the services so ably rendered. + +WILLIAM BOOTH. + +INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE SALVATION ARMY, LONDON, E.C., +October, 1890. + + + +CONTENTS + +PART 1. THE DARKNESS. + +CHAPTER 1. Why "Darkest England"? + +CHAPTER 2. The Submerged Tenth + +CHAPTER 3. The Homeless + +CHAPTER 4. The Out-of-Works + +CHAPTER 5. On the Verge of the Abyss + +CHAPTER 6. The Vicious + +CHAPTER 7. The Criminals + +CHAPTER 8. The Children of the Lost + +CHAPTER 9. Is there no Help? + + +PART 2. DELIVERANCE. + +CHAPTER 1. A Stupendous Undertaking + + Section 1. The Essentials to Success + Section 2. My Scheme + + +CHAPTER 2. To the Rescue!--The City Colony + + Section 1. Food and Shelter for Every Man + Section 2. Work for the Out-of-Works--The Factory + Section 3. The Regimentation of the Unemployed + Section 4. The Household Salvage Brigade + + +CHAPTER 3. To the Country!--The Farm Colony + + Section 1. The Farm Proper + Section 2. The Industrial Village + Section 3. Agricultural Villages + Section 4. Co-operative Farm + + +CHAPTER 4. New Britain--The Colony Over Sea + + Section 1. The Colony and the Colonists + Section 2. Universal Emigration + Section 3. The Salvation Ship + + +CHAPTER 5. More Crusades + + Section 1. A Slum Crusade.--Our Slum Sisters + Section 2. The Travelling Hospital + Section 3. Regeneration of our Criminals--The Prison Gate Brigade + Section 4. Effectual Deliverance for the Drunkard + Section 5. A New Way of Escape for Lost Women--The Rescue Homes + Section 6. A Preventive Home for Unfallen Girls when in Danger + Section 7. Enquiry Office for Lost People + Section 8. Refuges for the Children of the Streets + Section 9. Industrial Schools + Section 10. Asylums for Moral Lunatics + + +CHAPTER 6. Assistance in General + + Section 1. Improved Lodgings + Section 2. Model Suburban Villages + Section 3. The Poor Man's Bank + Section 4. The Poor Man's Lawyer + Section 5. Intelligence Department + Section 6. Co-operation in General + Section 7. Matrimonial Bureau + Section 8. Whitechapel-by-the-sea + + +CHAPTER 7. Can it be done, and how? + + Section 1. The Credentials of the Salvation Army + Section 2. How much will it cost? + Section 3. Some advantages stated + Section 4. Some objections met + Section 5. Recapitulation + +CHAPTER 8. A Pratical Conclusion + + + +IN DARKEST ENGLAND + +PART 1. THE DARKNESS. + +CHAPTER 1. WHY "DARKEST ENGLAND"? + +This summer the attention of the civilised world has been arrested by +the story which Mr. Stanley has told of Darkest Africa and his +journeyings across the heart of the Lost Continent. In all that +spirited narrative of heroic endeavour, nothing has so much impressed +the imagination, as his description of the immense forest, which +offered an almost impenetrable barrier to his advance. The intrepid +explorer, in his own phrase, "marched, tore, ploughed, and cut his way +for one hundred and sixty days through this inner womb of the true +tropical forest." The mind of man with difficulty endeavours to +realise this immensity of wooded wilderness, covering a territory half +as large again as the whole of France, where the rays of the sun never +penetrate, where in the dark, dank air, filled with the steam of the +heated morass, human beings dwarfed into pygmies and brutalised into +cannibals lurk and live and die. Mr Stanley vainly endeavours to bring +home to us the full horror of that awful gloom. He says: + +Take a thick Scottish copse dripping with rain; imagine this to be mere +undergrowth nourished under the impenetrable shade of ancient trees +ranging from 100 to 180 feet high; briars and thorns abundant; lazy +creeks meandering through the depths of the jungle, and sometimes a +deep affluent of a great river. Imagine this forest and jungle in all +stages of decay and growth, rain pattering on you every other day of +the year; an impure atmosphere with its dread consequences, fever and +dysentery; gloom throughout the day and darkness almost palpable +throughout the night; and then if you can imagine such a forest +extending the entire distance from Plymouth to Peterhead, you will have +a fair idea of some of the inconveniences endured by us in the Congo +forest. + +The denizens of this region are filled with a conviction that the +forest is endless--interminable. In vain did Mr. Stanley and his +companions endeavour to convince them that outside the dreary wood were +to be found sunlight, pasturage and peaceful meadows. + +They replied in a manner that seemed to imply that we must be strange +creatures to suppose that it would be possible for any world to exist +save their illimitable forest. "No," they replied, shaking their heads +compassionately, and pitying our absurd questions, "all like this," and +they moved their hand sweepingly to illustrate that the world was all +alike, nothing but trees, trees and trees--great trees rising as high +as an arrow shot to the sky, lifting their crowns intertwining their +branches, pressing and crowding one against the other, until neither +the sunbeam nor shaft of light can penetrate it. + +"We entered the forest," says Mr. Stanley, "with confidence; forty +pioneers in front with axes and bill hooks to clear a path through the +obstructions, praying that God and good fortune would lead us." +But before the conviction of the forest dwellers that the forest was +without end, hope faded out of the hearts of the natives of Stanley's +company. The men became sodden with despair, preaching was useless to +move their brooding sullenness, their morbid gloom. + +The little religion they knew was nothing more than legendary lore, +and in their memories there dimly floated a story of a land which grew +darker and darker as one travelled towards the end of the earth and +drew nearer to the place where a great serpent lay supine and coiled +round the whole world. Ah! then the ancients must have referred to +this, where the light is so ghastly, and the woods are endless, and are +so still and solemn and grey; to this oppressive loneliness, amid so +much life, which is so chilling to the poor distressed heart; and the +horror grew darker with their fancies; the cold of early morning, the +comfortless grey of dawn, the dead white mist, the ever-dripping tears +of the dew, the deluging rains, the appalling thunder bursts and the +echoes, and the wonderful play of the dazzling lightning. And when the +night comes with its thick palpable darkness, and they lie huddled in +their damp little huts, and they hear the tempest overhead, and the +howling of the wild winds, the grinding an groaning of the storm-tost +trees, and the dread sounds of the falling giants, and the shock of the +trembling earth which sends their hearts with fitful leaps to their +throats, and the roaring and a rushing as of a mad overwhelming sea-- +oh, then the horror is intensified! When the march has begun once +again, and the files are slowly moving through the woods, they renew +their morbid broodings, and ask themselves: How long is this to last? +Is the joy of life to end thus? Must we jog on day after day in this +cheerless gloom and this joyless duskiness, until we stagger and fall +and rot among the toads? Then they disappear into the woods by twos, +and threes, and sixes; and after the caravan has passed they return by +the trail, some to reach Yambuya and upset the young officers with +their tales of woe and war; some to fall sobbing under a spear-thrust; +some to wander and stray in the dark mazes of the woods, hopelessly +lost; and some to be carved for the cannibal feast. And those who +remain compelled to it by fears of greater danger, mechanically march +on, a prey to dread and weakness. + +That is the forest. But what of its denizens? They are comparatively +few; only some hundreds of thousands living in small tribes from ten to +thirty miles apart, scattered over an area on which ten thousand +million trees put out the sun from a region four times as wide as +Great Britain. Of these pygmies there are two kinds; one a very +degraded specimen with ferretlike eyes, close-set nose, more nearly +approaching the baboon than was supposed to be possible, but very +human; the other very handsome, with frank open innocent features, +very prepossessing. They are quick and intelligent, capable of deep +affection and gratitude, showing remarkable industry and patience. +A pygmy boy of eighteen worked with consuming zeal; time with him was +too precious to waste in talk. His mind seemed ever concentrated on +work. Mr. Stanley said: -- + +"When I once stopped him to ask him his name, his face seemed to say, +'Please don't stop me. I must finish my task.' + +"All alike, the baboon variety and the handsome innocents, are +cannibals. They are possessed with a perfect mania for meat. We were +obliged to bury our dead in the river, lest the bodies should be +exhumed and eaten, even when they had died from smallpox." + +Upon the pygmies and all the dwellers of the forest has descended a +devastating visitation in the shape of the ivory raiders of +civilisation. The race that wrote the Arabian Nights, built Bagdad and +Granada, and invented Algebra, sends forth men with the hunger for gold +in their hearts, and Enfield muskets in their hands, to plunder and to +slay. They exploit the domestic affections of the forest dwellers in +order to strip them of all they possess in the world. That has been +going on for years. It is going on to-day. It has come to be regarded +as the natural and normal law of existence. Of the religion of these +hunted pygmies Mr. Stanley tells us nothing, perhaps because there is +nothing to tell. But an earlier traveller, Dr. Kraff, says that one +of these tribes, by name Doko, had some notion of a Supreme Being, to +whom, under the name of Yer, they sometimes addressed prayers in +moments of sadness or terror. In these prayers they say; "Oh Yer, if +Thou dost really exist why dost Thou let us be slaves? We ask not for +food or clothing, for we live on snakes, ants, and mice. Thou hast +made us, wherefore dost Thou let us be trodden down?" + +It is a terrible picture, and one that has engraved itself deep on the +heart of civilisation. But while brooding over the awful presentation +of life as it exists in the vast African forest, it seemed to me only +too vivid a picture of many parts of our own land. As there is a +darkest Africa is there not also a darkest England? Civilisation, +which can breed its own barbarians, does it not also breed its own +pygmies? May we not find a parallel at our own doors, and discover +within a stone's throw of our cathedrals and palaces similar horrors to +those which Stanley has found existing in the great Equatorial forest? + +The more the mind dwells upon the subject, the closer the analogy +appears. The ivory raiders who brutally traffic in the unfortunate +denizens of the forest glades, what are they but the publicans who +flourish on the weakness of our poor? The two tribes of savages the +human baboon and the handsome dwarf, who will not speak lest it impede +him in his task, may be accepted as the two varieties who are +continually present with us--the vicious, lazy lout, and the toiling +slave. They, too, have lost all faith of life being other than it is +and has been. As in Africa, it is all trees trees, trees with no other +world conceivable; so is it here--it is all vice and poverty and +crime. To many the world is all slum, with the Workhouse as an +intermediate purgatory before the grave. And just as Mr. Stanley's +Zanzibaris lost faith, and could only be induced to plod on in brooding +sullenness of dull despair, so the most of our social reformers, no +matter how cheerily they may have started off, with forty pioneers +swinging blithely their axes as they force their way in to the wood, +soon become depressed and despairing. Who can battle against the ten +thousand million trees? Who can hope to make headway against the +innumerable adverse conditions which doom the dweller in Darkest +England to eternal and immutable misery? What wonder is it that many +of the warmest hearts and enthusiastic workers feel disposed to repeat +the lament of the old English chronicler, who, speaking of the evil +days which fell upon our forefathers in the reign of Stephen, said +"It seemed to them as if God and his Saints were dead." + +An analogy is as good as a suggestion; it becomes wearisome when it is +pressed too far. But before leaving it, think for a moment how close +the parallel is, and how strange it is that so much interest should be +excited by a narrative of human squalor and human heroism in a distant +continent, while greater squalor and heroism not less magnificent may +be observed at our very doors. + +The Equatorial Forest traversed by Stanley resembles that Darkest +England of which I have to speak, alike in its vast extent--both +stretch, in Stanley's phrase, "as far as from Plymouth to Peterhead;" +its monotonous darkness, its malaria and its gloom, its dwarfish +de-humanized inhabitants, the slavery to which they are subjected, +their privations and their misery. That which sickens the stoutest +heart, and causes many of our bravest and best to fold their hands in +despair, is the apparent impossibility of doing more than merely to +peck at the outside of the endless tangle of monotonous undergrowth; +to let light into it, to make a road clear through it, that shall not +be immediately choked up by the ooze of the morass and the luxuriant +parasitical growth of the forest--who dare hope for that? +At present, alas, it would seem as though no one dares even to hope! +It is the great Slough of Despond of our time. + +And what a slough it is no man can gauge who has not waded therein, as +some of us have done, up to the very neck for long years. Talk about +Dante's Hell, and all the horrors and cruelties of the torture-chamber +of the lost! The man who walks with open eyes and with bleeding heart +through the shambles of our civilisation needs no such fantastic images +of the poet to teach him horror. Often and often, when I have seen the +young and the poor and the helpless go down before my eyes into the +morass, trampled underfoot by beasts of prey in human shape that haunt +these regions, it seemed as if God were no longer in His world, but +that in His stead reigned a fiend, merciless as Hell, ruthless as the +grave. Hard it is, no doubt, to read in Stanley's pages of the +slave-traders coldly arranging for the surprise of a village, the +capture of the inhabitants, the massacre of those who resist, and the +violation of all the women; but the stony streets of London, if they +could but speak, would tell of tragedies as awful, of ruin as complete, +of ravishments as horrible, as if we were in Central Africa; only the +ghastly devastation is covered, corpselike, with the artificialities +and hypocrisies of modern civilisation. + +The lot of a negress in the Equatorial Forest is not, perhaps, a very +happy one, but is it so very much worse than that of many a pretty +orphan girl in our Christian capital? We talk about the brutalities of +the dark ages, and we profess to shudder as we read in books of the +shameful exaction of the rights of feudal superior. And yet here, +beneath our very eyes, in our theatres, in our restaurants, and in many +other places, unspeakable though it be but to name it, the same hideous +abuse flourishes unchecked. A young penniless girl, if she be pretty, +is often hunted from pillar to post by her employers, confronted always +by the alternative--Starve or Sin. And when once the poor girl has +consented to buy the right to earn her living by the sacrifice of her +virtue, then she is treated as a slave and an outcast by the very men +who have ruined her. Her word becomes unbelievable, her life an +ignominy, and she is swept downward ever downward, into the bottomless +perdition of prostitution. But there, even in the lowest depths, +excommunicated by Humanity and outcast from God, she is far nearer the +pitying heart of the One true Saviour than all the men who forced her +down, aye, and than all the Pharisees and Scribes who stand silently by +while these Fiendish wrongs are perpetrated before their very eyes. + +The blood boils with impotent rage at the sight of these enormities, +callously inflicted, and silently borne by these miserable victims. +Nor is it only women who are the victims, although their fate is the +most tragic. Those firms which reduce sweating to a fine art, +who systematically and deliberately defraud the workman of his pay, +who grind the faces of the poor, and who rob the widow and the orphan, +and who for a pretence make great professions of public spirit and +philanthropy, these men nowadays are sent to Parliament to make laws +for the people. The old prophets sent them to Hell--but we have +changed all that. They send their victims to Hell, and are rewarded by +all that wealth can do to make their lives comfortable. Read the House +of Lords' Report on the Sweating System, and ask if any African slave +system, making due allowance for the superior civilisation, and +therefore sensitiveness, of the victims, reveals more misery. + +Darkest England, like Darkest Africa, reeks with malaria. The foul and +fetid breath of our slums is almost as poisonous as that of the African +swamp. Fever is almost as chronic there as on the Equator. Every year +thousands of children are killed off by what is called defects of our +sanitary system. They are in reality starved and poisoned, and all +that can be said is that, in many cases, it is better for them that +they were taken away from the trouble to come. + +Just as in Darkest Africa it is only a part of the evil and misery that +comes from the superior race who invade the forest to enslave and +massacre its miserable inhabitants, so with us, much of the misery of +those whose lot we are considering arises from their own habits. +Drunkenness and all manner of uncleanness, moral and physical, abound. +Have you ever watched by the bedside of a man in delirium tremens? +Multiply the sufferings of that one drunkard by the hundred thousand, +and you have some idea of what scenes are being witnessed in all our +great cities at this moment. As in Africa streams intersect the forest +in every direction, so the gin-shop stands at every corner with its +River of the Water of Death flowing seventeen hours out of the +twenty-four for the destruction of the people. A population sodden +with drink, steeped in vice, eaten up by every social and physical +malady, these are the denizens of Darkest England amidst whom my life +has been spent, and to whose rescue I would now summon all that is best +in the manhood and womanhood of our land. + +But this book is no mere lamentation of despair. For Darkest England, +as for Darkest Africa, there is a light beyond. I think I see my way +out, a way by which these wretched ones may escape from the gloom of +their miserable existence into a higher and happier life. +Long wandering in the Forest of the Shadow of Death at out doors, has +familiarised me with its horrors; but while the realisation is a +vigorous spur to action it has never been so oppressive as to +extinguish hope. Mr. Stanley never succumbed to the terrors which +oppressed his followers. He had lived in a larger life, and knew that +the forest, though long, was not interminable. Every step forward +brought him nearer his destined goal, nearer to the light of the sun, +the clear sky, and the rolling uplands of the grazing land. +Therefore he did not despair. The Equatorial Forest was, after all, +a mere corner of one quarter of the world. In the knowledge of +the light outside, in the confidence begotten by past experience of +successful endeavour, he pressed forward; and when the 160 days' +struggle was over, he and his men came out into a pleasant place where +the land smiled with peace and plenty, and their hardships and hunger +were forgotten in the joy of a great deliverance. + +So I venture to believe it will be with us. But the end is not yet. +We are still in the depths of the depressing gloom. It is in no spirit +of light-heartedness that this book is sent forth into the world as if +it was written some ten years ago. + +If this were the first time that this wail of hopeless misery had +sounded on our ears the matter would have been less serious. It is +because we have heard it so often that the case is so desperate. +The exceeding bitter cry of the disinherited has become to be as +familiar in the ears of men as the dull roar of the streets or as the +moaning of the wind through the trees. And so it rises unceasing, year +in and year out, and we are too busy or too idle, too indifferent or +too selfish, to spare it a thought. Only now and then, on rare +occasions, when some clear voice is heard giving more articulate +utterance to the miseries of the miserable men, do we pause in the +regular routine of our daily duties, and shudder as we realise for one +brief moment what life means to the inmates of the Slums. But one of +the grimmest social problems of our time should be sternly faced, not +with a view to the generation of profitless emotion, but with a view to +its solution. + +Is it not time? There is, it is true, an audacity in the mere +suggestion that the problem is not insoluble that is enough to take +away the breath. But can nothing be done? If, after full and +exhaustive consideration, we come to the deliberate conclusion that +nothing can be done, and that it is the inevitable and inexorable +destiny of thousands of Englishmen to be brutalised into worse than +beasts by the condition of their environment, so be it. But if, on the +contrary, we are unable to believe that this "awful slough," which +engulfs the manhood and womanhood of generation after generation is +incapable of removal; and if the heart and intellect of mankind alike +revolt against the fatalism of despair, then, indeed, it is time, and +high time, that the question were faced in no mere dilettante spirit, +but with a resolute determination to make an end of the crying scandal +of our age. + +What a satire it is upon our Christianity and our civilisation that the +existence of these colonies of heathens and savages in the heart of our +capital should attract so little attention! It is no better than a +ghastly mockery--theologians might use a stronger word--to call by +the name of One who came to seek and to save that which was lost those +Churches which in the midst of lost multitudes either sleep in apathy +or display a fitful interest in a chasuble. Why all this apparatus of +temples and meeting-houses to save men from perdition in a world which +is to come, while never a helping hand is stretched out to save them +from the inferno of their present life? Is it not time that, +forgetting for a moment their wranglings about the infinitely little or +infinitely obscure, they should concentrate all their energies on a +united effort to break this terrible perpetuity of perdition, and to +rescue some at least of those for whom they profess to believe their +Founder came to die? + +Before venturing to define the remedy, I begin by describing the +malady. But even when presenting the dreary picture of our social +ills, and describing the difficulties which confront us, I speak not in +despondency but in hope. "I know in whom I have believed." I know, +therefore do I speak. Darker England is but a fractional part of +"Greater England." There is wealth enough abundantly to minister to its +social regeneration so far as wealth can, if there be but heart enough +to set about the work in earnest. And I hope and believe that the +heart will not be lacking when once the problem is manfully faced, and +the method of its solution plainly pointed out. + +CHAPTER II. THE SUBMERGED TENTH. + +In setting forth the difficulties which have to be grappled with, +I shall endeavour in all things to understate rather than overstate my +case. I do this for two reasons: first, any exaggeration would create +a reaction; and secondly, as my object is to demonstrate the +practicability of solving the problem, I do not wish to magnify its +dimensions. In this and in subsequent chapters I hope to convince +those who read them that there is no overstraining in the +representation of the facts, and nothing Utopian in the presentation of +remedies. I appeal neither to hysterical emotionalists nor headlong +enthusiasts; but having tried to approach the examination of this +question in a spirit of scientific investigation, I put forth my +proposals with the view of securing the support and co-operation of the +sober, serious, practical men and women who constitute the saving +strength and moral backbone of the country. I fully admit that them is +much that is lacking in the diagnosis of the disease, and, no doubt, +in this first draft of the prescription there is much room for +improvement, which will come when we have the light of fuller +experience. But with all its drawbacks and defects, I do not hesitate +to submit my proposals to the impartial judgment of all who are +interested in the solution of the social question as an immediate and +practical mode of dealing with this, the greatest problem of our time. + +The first duty of an investigator in approaching the study of any +question is to eliminate all that is foreign to the inquiry, and to +concentrate his attention upon the subject to be dealt with. Here I +may remark that I make no attempt in this book to deal with Society as +a whole. I leave to others the formulation of ambitious programmes for +the reconstruction of our entire social system; not because I may not +desire its reconstruction, but because the elaboration of any plans +which are more or less visionary and incapable of realisation for many +years would stand in the way of the consideration of this Scheme for +dealing with the most urgently pressing aspect of the question, which I +hope may be put into operation at once. + +In taking this course I am aware that I cut myself off from a wide and +attractive field; but as a practical man, dealing with sternly prosaic +facts, I must confine my attention to that particular section of the +problem which clamours most pressingly for a solution. Only one thing +I may say in passing. Then is nothing in my scheme which will bring it +into collision either with Socialists of the State, or Socialists of +the Municipality, with Individualists or Nationalists, or any of the +various schools of though in the great field of social economics-- +excepting only those anti-christian economists who hold that it is an +offence against the doctrine of the survival of the fittest to try to +save the weakest from going to the wall, and who believe that when once +a man is down the supreme duty of a self-regarding Society is to jump +upon him. Such economists will naturally be disappointed with this +book I venture to believe that all others will find nothing in it to +offend their favourite theories, but perhaps something of helpful +suggestion which they may utilise hereafter. What, then, is Darkest +England? For whom do we claim that "urgency" which gives their case +priority over that of all other sections of their countrymen and +countrywomen? + +I claim it for the Lost, for the Outcast, for the Disinherited of the +World. + +These, it may be said, are but phrases. Who are the Lost? reply, not +in a religious, but in a social sense, the lost are those who have gone +under, who have lost their foothold in Society, those to whom the +prayer to our Heavenly Father, "Give us day by day our daily bread," +is either unfulfilled, or only fulfilled by the Devil's agency: by the +earnings of vice, the proceeds of crime, or the contribution enforced +by the threat of the law. + +But I will be more precise. The denizens in Darkest England; for whom +I appeal, are (1) those who, having no capital or income of their own, +would in a month be dead from sheer starvation were they exclusively +dependent upon the money earned by their own work; and (2) those who by +their utmost exertions are unable to attain the regulation allowance of +food which the law prescribes as indispensable even for the worst +criminals in our gaols. + +I sorrowfully admit that it would be Utopian in our present social +arrangements to dream of attaining for every honest Englishman a gaol +standard of all the necessaries of life. Some time, perhaps, we may +venture to hope that every honest worker on English soil will always be +as warmly clad, as healthily housed, and as regularly fed as our +criminal convicts--but that is not yet. + +Neither is it possible to hope for many years to come that human beings +generally will be as well cared for as horses. Mr. Carlyle long ago +remarked that the four-footed worker has already got all that this +two-handed one is clamouring for: "There are not many horses in +England, able and willing to work, which have not due food and lodging +and go about sleek coated, satisfied in heart." You say it is +impossible; but, said Carlyle, "The human brain, looking at these sleek +English horses, refuses to believe in such impossibility for English +men." Nevertheless, forty years have passed since Carlyle said that, +and we seem to be no nearer the attainment of the four-footed standard +for the two-handed worker. "Perhaps it might be nearer realisation," +growls the cynic, "if we could only product men according to demand, as +we do horses, and promptly send them to the slaughter-house when past +their prime"--which, of course, is not to be thought of. + +What, then, is the standard towards which we may venture to aim with +some prospect of realisation in our time? It is a very humble one, but +if realised it would solve the worst problems of modern Society. It is +the standard of the London Cab Horse. When in the streets of London a +Cab Horse, weary or careless or stupid, trips and falls and lies +stretched out in the midst of the traffic there is no question of +debating how he came to stumble before we try to get him on his legs +again. The Cab Horse is a very real illustration of poor broken-down +humanity; he usually falls down because of overwork and underfeeding. +If you put him on his feet without altering his conditions, it would +only be to give him another dose of agony; but first of all you'll have +to pick him up again. It may have been through overwork or +underfeeding, or it may have been all his own fault that he has broken +his knees and smashed the shafts, but that does not matter. If not for +his own sake, then merely in order to prevent an obstruction of the +traffic, all attention is concentrated upon the question of how we are +to get him on his legs again. Tin load is taken off, the harness is +unbuckled, or, if need be, cut, and everything is done to help him up. +Then he is put in the shafts again and once more restored to his +regular round of work. That is the first point. The second is that +every Cab Horse in London has three things; a shelter for the night, +food for its stomach, and work allotted to it by which it can earn its +corn. + +These are the two points of the Cab Horse's Charter. When he is down +he is helped up, and while he lives he has food, shelter and work. +That, although a humble standard, is at present absolutely unattainable +by millions--literally by millions--of our fellow-men and women in +this country. Can the Cab Horse Charter be gained for human beings? +I answer, yes. The Cab Horse standard can be attained on the Cab Horse +terms. If you get your fallen fellow on his feet again, Docility and +Discipline will enable you to reach the Cab Horse ideal, otherwise it +will remain unattainable. But Docility seldom fails where Discipline +is intelligently maintained. Intelligence is more frequently lacking +to direct than obedience to follow direction. At any rate it is not +for those who possess the intelligence to despair of obedience, until +they have done their part. Some, no doubt, like the bucking horse that +will never be broken in, will always refuse to submit to any guidance +but their own lawless will. They will remain either the Ishmaels or +the Sloths of Society. But man is naturally neither an Ishmael nor a +Sloth. + +The first question, then, which confronts us is, what are the +dimensions of the Evil? How many of our fellow-men dwell in this +Darkest England? How can we take the census of those who have fallen +below the Cab Horse standard to which it is our aim to elevate the most +wretched of our countrymen? + +The moment you attempt to answer this question, you are confronted by +the fact that the Social Problem has scarcely been studied at all +scientifically. Go to Mudie's and ask for all the books that have been +written on the subject, and you will be surprised to find how few there +are. There are probably more scientific books treating of diabetes or +of gout than there are dealing with the great social malady which eats +out the vitals of such numbers of our people. Of late there has been a +change for the better. The Report of the Royal Commission on the +Housing of the Poor, and the Report of the Committee of the House of +Lords on Sweating, represent an attempt at least to ascertain the facts +which bear upon the Condition of the People question. But, after all, +more minute, patient, intelligent observation has been devoted to the +study of Earthworms, than to the evolution, or rather the degradation, +of the Sunken Section of our people. Here and there in the immense +field individual workers make notes, and occasionally emit a wail of +despair, but where is there any attempt even so much as to take the +first preliminary step of counting those who have gone under? One book +there is, and so far as I know at present, only one, which even +attempts to enumerate the destitute. In his "Life and Labour in the +East of London," Mr. Charles Booth attempts to form some kind of an +idea as to the numbers of those with whom we have to deal. With a +large staff of assistants, and provided with all the facts in +possession of the School Board Visitors, Mr. Booth took an industrial +census of East London. This district, which comprises Tower Hamlets, +Shoreditch, Bethnal Green and Hackney, contains a population of +908,000; that is to say, less than one-fourth of the population of +London. How do his statistics work out? If we estimate the number of +the poorest class in the rest of London as being twice as numerous as +those in the Eastern District, instead of being thrice as numerous, as +they would be if they were calculated according to the population in +the same proportion, the following is the result: + + PAUPERS + Inmates of Workhouses, Asylums, + and Hospitals .. .. .. 17,000 34,000 51,000 + + HOMELESS + Loafers, Casuals, + and some Criminals .. .. 11,000 22,000 33,000 + + STARVING + Casual earnings between + 18s. per week and chronic want 100,000 200,000 300,000 + + THE VERY POOR. + Intermittent earnings + 18s. to 21s. per week .. .. 74,000 148,000 222,000 + + Small regular earnings + 18s.to 21s. per week .. .. 129,000 258,000 387,000 + ------- ------- ------- + 331,000 662,000 993,000 + + + Regular wages, artizans, etc., + 22s. to 30s. per week .. .. 337,000 + + Higher class labour, + 30s. to 50s. per week .. .. 121,000 + + Lower middle class, + shopkeepers, clerks, etc. .. 34,000 + + Upper middle class + (servant keepers) .. .. .. 45,000 + ------- + 908,000 +It may be admitted that East London affords an exceptionally bad +district from which to generalise for the rest of the country. +Wages are higher in London than elsewhere, but so is rent, and the +number of the homeless and starving is greater in the human warren at +the East End. There are 31 millions of people in Great Britain, +exclusive of Ireland. If destitution existed everywhere in East London +proportions, there would be 31 times as many homeless and starving +people as there are in the district round Bethnal Green. + +But let us suppose that the East London rate is double the average for +the rest of the country. That would bring out the following figures: + + HOUSELESS + East London. United Kingdom. + + Loafers, Casuals, and some Criminals 11,000 165,500 + + STARVING + Casual earnings or chronic want .. 100,000 1,550,000 + + Total Houseless and Starving .. 111,000 1,715,500 + + In Workhouses, Asylums, &c. .. 17,000 190,000 + -------- ---------- + 128,000 1,905,500 + + +Of those returned as homeless and starving, 870,000 were in receipt of +outdoor relief. To these must be added the inmates of our prisons. +In 1889 174,779 persons were received in the prisons, but the average +number in prison at any one time did not exceed 60,000. The figures, +as given in the Prison Returns, are as follows: -- + + In Convict Prisons .. .. .. .. .. 11,600 + In Local Prisons.. .. .. .. .. .. 20,883 + In Reformatories.. .. .. .. .. .. 1,270 + In Industrial Schools .. .. .. .. 21,413 + Criminal Lunatics .. .. .. .. .. 910 + ------- + 56,136 + +Add to this the number of indoor paupers and lunatics (excluding +criminals) 78,966--and we have an army of nearly two million: +belonging to the submerged classes. To this there must be added at the +very least, another million, representing those dependent upon the +criminal, lunatic and other classes, not enumerated here, and the more +or less helpless of the class immediately above the houseless and +starving. This brings my total to three millions, or, to put it +roughly to one-tenth of the population. According to Lord Brabazon and +Mr. Samuel Smith, "between two and three millions of our population +are always pauperised and degraded." Mr. Chamberlain says there is a +"population equal to that of the metropolis,--that is, between four +and five millions--"which has remained constantly in a state of +abject destitution and misery." Mr. Giffen is more moderate. +The submerged class, according to him, comprises one in five of manual +labourers, six in 100 of the population. Mr. Giffen does not add the +third million which is living on the border line. +Between Mr Chamberlain's four millions and a half, and Mr. Giffen's +1,800,000 I am content to take three millions as representing the total +strength of the destitute army. + +Darkest England, then, may be said to have a population about equal to +that of Scotland. Three million men, women, and children a vast +despairing multitude in a condition nominally free, but really +enslaved;--these it is whom we have to save. + +It is a large order. England emancipated her negroes sixty years ago, +at a cost of #40,000,000, and has never ceased boasting about it since. +But at our own doors, from "Plymouth to Peterhead," stretches this +waste Continent of humanity--three million human beings who are +enslaved--some of them to taskmasters as merciless as any West Indian +overseer, all of them to destitution and despair? + +Is anything to be done with them? Can anything be done for them? +Or is this million-headed mass to be regarded as offering a problem as +insoluble as that of the London sewage, which, feculent and festering, +swings heavily up and down the basin of the Thames with the ebb and +flow of the tide? + +This Submerged Tenth--is it, then, beyond the reach of the +nine-tenths in the midst of whom they live, and around whose homes they +rot and die? No doubt, in every large mass of human beings there will +be some incurably diseased in morals and in body, some for whom nothing +can be done, some of whom even the optimist must despair, and for whom +he can prescribe nothing but the beneficently stern restraints of an +asylum or a gaol. + +But is not one in ten a proportion scandalously high? +The Israelites of old set apart one tribe in twelve to minister to +the Lord in the service of the Temple; but must we doom one in ten of +"God's Englishmen" to the service of the great Twin Devils-- +Destitution and Despair? + + +CHAPTER 3. THE HOMELESS + +Darkest England may be described as consisting broadly of three +circles, one within the other. The outer and widest circle is +inhabited by the starving and the homeless, but honest, Poor. +The second by those who live by Vice; and the third and innermost +region at the centre is peopled by those who exist by Crime. The whole +of the three circles is sodden with Drink. Darkest England has many +more public-houses than the Forest of the Aruwimi has rivers, of which +Mr. Stanley sometimes had to cross three in half-an-hour. + +The borders of this great lost land are not sharply defined. They are +continually expanding or contracting. Whenever there is a period of +depression in trade, they stretch; when prosperity returns, they +contract. So far as individuals are concerned, there are none among +the hundreds of thousands who live upon the outskirts of the dark +forest who can truly say that they or their children are secure from +being hopelessly entangled in its labyrinth. The death of the +bread-winner, a long illness, a failure in the City, or any one of a +thousand other causes which might be named, will bring within the first +circle those who at present imagine themselves free from all danger of +actual want. The death-rate in Darkest England is high. Death is the +great gaol-deliverer of the captives. But the dead are hardly in the +grave before their places are taken by others. Some escape, but the +majority, their health sapped by their surroundings, become weaker and +weaker, until at last they fall by the way, perishing without hope at +the very doors of the palatial mansions which, maybe, some of them +helped to build. + +Some seven years ago a great outcry was made concerning the Housing of +the Poor. Much was said, and rightly said--it could not be said too +strongly--concerning the disease-breeding, manhood-destroying +character of many of the tenements in which the poor herd in our large +cities. But there is a depth below that of the dweller in the slums. +It is that of the dweller in the street, who has not even a lair in the +slums which he can call his own. The houseless Out-of-Work is in one +respect at least like Him of whom it was said, "Foxes have holes, and +birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay +His head." + +The existence of these unfortunates was somewhat rudely forced upon the +attention of Society in 1887, when Trafalgar Square became the camping +ground of the Homeless Outcasts of London. Our Shelters have done +something, but not enough, to provide for the outcasts, who this night +and every night are walking about the streets, not knowing where they +can find a spot on which to rest their weary frames. + +Here is the return of one of my Officers who was told off this summer +to report upon the actual condition of the Homeless who have no roof to +shelter them in all London: -- + +There are still a large number of Londoners and a considerable +percentage of wanderers from the country in search of work, who find +themselves at nightfall destitute. These now betake themselves to the +seats under the plane trees on the Embankment. Formerly they +endeavoured to occupy all the seats, but the lynx-eyed Metropolitan +Police declined to allow any such proceedings, and the dossers, knowing +the invariable kindness of the City Police, made tracks for that +portion of the Embankment which, lying east of the Temple, comes under +the control of the Civic Fathers. Here, between the Temple and +Blackfriars, I found the poor wretches by the score; almost every seat +contained its full complement of six--some men, some women--all +reclining in various postures and nearly all fast asleep. Just as +Big Ben strikes two, the moon, flashing across the Thames and lighting +up the stone work of the Embankment, brings into relief a pitiable +spectacle. Here on the stone abutments, which afford a slight +protection from the biting wind, are scores of men lying side by side, +huddled together for warmth, and, of course, without any other covering +than their ordinary clothing, which is scanty enough at the best. Some +have laid down a few pieces of waste paper, by way of taking the chill +off the stones, but the majority are too tired, even for that, and the +nightly toilet of most consists of first removing the hat, swathing the +head in whatever old rag may be doing duty as a handkerchief, and then +replacing the hat. + +The intelligent-looking elderly man, who was just fixing himself up on +a seat, informed me that he frequently made that his night's abode. +"You see," quoth he, "there's nowhere else so comfortable. I was here +last night, and Monday and Tuesday as well, that's four nights this +week. I had no money for lodgings, couldn't earn any, try as I might. +I've had one bit of bread to-day nothing else whatever, and I've earned +nothing to-day or yesterday; I had threepence the day before. Gets my +living by carrying parcels, or minding horses, or odd jobs of that +sort. You see I haven't got my health, that's where it is. I used to +work on the London General Omnibus Company and after that on the Road +Car Company, but I had to go to the infirmary with bronchitis and +couldn't get work after that. What's the good of a man what's got +bronchitis and just left the infirmary? Who'll engage him, I'd like to +know? Besides, it makes me short of breath at times, and I can't do +much. I'm a widower; wife died long ago. I have one boy, abroad, a +sailor, but he's only lately started and can't help me. Yes! its very +fair out here of nights, seats rather hard, but a bit of waste paper +makes it a lot softer. We have women sleep here often, and children, +too. They're very well conducted, and there's seldom many rows here, +you see, because everybody's tired out. We're too sleepy to make a +row." + +Another party, a tall, dull, helpless-looking individual, had walked up +from the country; would prefer not to mention the place. He had hoped +to have obtained a hospital letter at the Mansion House so as to obtain +a truss for a bad rupture, but failing, had tried various other places, +also in vain, win up minus money or food on the Embankment. + +In addition to these sleepers, a considerable number walk about the +streets up till the early hours of the morning to hunt up some job +which will bring I copper into the empty exchequer, and save them from +actual starvation. I had some conversation with one such, a stalwart +youth lately discharged from the militia, and unable to get work. + +"You see," said he, pitifully, "I don't know my way about like most of +the London fellows. I'm so green, and don't know how to pick up jobs +like they do. I've been walking the streets almost day and night these +two weeks and can't get work. I've got the strength, though I shan't +have it long at this rate. I only want a job. This is the third night +running that I've walked the streets all night; the only money I get is +by minding blacking-boys' boxes while they go into Lockhart's for their +dinner. I got a penny yesterday at it, and twopence for carrying a +parcel, and to-day I've had a penny. Bought a ha'porth of bread and a +ha'penny mug of tea." + +Poor lad! probably he would soon get into thieves' company, and sink +into the depths, for there is no other means of living for many like +him; it is starve or steal, even for the young. There are gangs of lad +thieves in the low Whitechapel lodging-houses, varying in age from +thirteen to fifteen, who live by thieving eatables and other easily +obtained goods from shop fronts. In addition to the Embankment, +al fresco lodgings are found in the seats outside Spitalfields Church, +and many homeless wanderers have their own little nooks and corners of +resort in many sheltered yards, vans, etc., all over London. +Two poor women I observed making their home in a shop door-way in +Liverpool Street. Thus they manage in the summer; what it's like in +winter time is terrible to think of. In many cases it means the +pauper's grave, as in the case of a young woman who was wont to sleep +in a van in Bedfordbury. Some men who were aware of her practice +surprised her by dashing a bucket of water on her. The blow to her +weak system caused illness, and the inevitable sequel--a coroner's +jury came to the conclusion that the water only hastened her death, +which was due, in plain English, to starvation. + +The following are some statements taken down by the same Officer from +twelve men whom he found sleeping on the Embankment on the nights of +June 13th and 14th, 1890:- + +No. 1. "I've slept here two nights; I'm a confectioner by trade; +I come from Dartford. I got turned off because I'm getting elderly. +They can get young men cheaper, and I have the rheumatism so bad. +I've earned nothing these two days; I thought I could get a job at +Woolwich, so I walked there, but could get nothing. I found a bit of +bread in the road wrapped up in a bit of newspaper. That did me for +yesterday. I had a bit of bread and butter to-day. I'm 54 years old. +When it's wet we stand about all night under the arches.' + +No. 2. "Been sleeping out three weeks all but one night; do odd jobs, +mind horses, and that sort of thing. Earned nothing to-day, or +shouldn't be here. Have had a pen'orth of bread to-day. That's all. +Yesterday had some pieces given to me at a cook-shop. Two days last +week had nothing at all from morning till night. By trade I'm a +feather-bed dresser, but it's gone out of fashion, and besides that, +I've a cataract in one eye, and have lost the sight of it completely. +I'm a widower, have one child, a soldier, at Dover. My last regular +work was eight months ago, but the firm broke. Been doing odd jobs +Since." + +No. 3. "I'm a tailor; have slept here four nights running. Can't get +work. Been out of a job three weeks. If I can muster cash I sleep at +a lodging-house in Vere Street, Glare Market. It was very wet last +night. I left these seats and went to Covent Garden Market and slept +under cover. There were about thirty of us. The police moved us on, +but we went back as soon as they had gone. I've had a pen'orth of +bread and pen'orth of soup during the last two days--often goes +without altogether. There are women sleep out here. They are decent +people, mostly charwomen and such like who can't get work." + +No.4. Elderly man; trembles visibly with excitement at mention of +work; produces a card carefully wrapped in old newspaper, to the effect +that Mr. J.R. is a member of the Trade Protection League. He is a +waterside labourer; last job at that was a fortnight since. Has earned +nothing for five days. Had a bit of bread this morning, but not a +scrap since. Had a cup of tea and two slices of bread yesterday, and +the same the day before; the deputy at a lodging house gave it to him. +He is fifty years old, and is still damp from sleeping out in the wet +last night. + +No. 5. Sawyer by trade, machinery cut him out. Had a job, haymaking +near Uxbridge. Had been on same job lately for a month; got 2s. 6d a +day. (Probably spent it in drink, seems a very doubtful worker.) Has +been odd jobbing a long time, earned 2d. to-day, bought a pen'orth of +tea and ditto of sugar (produces same from pocket) but can't get any +place to make the tea; was hoping to get to a lodging house where he +could borrow a teapot, but had no money. Earned nothing yesterday, +slept at a casual ward; very poor place, get insufficient food, +considering the labour. Six ounces of bread and a pint of skilly for +breakfast, one ounce of cheese and six or seven ounces of bread for +dinner (bread cut by guess). Tea same as breakfast,--no supper. +For this you have to break 10 cwt. of stones, or pick 4 lbs. of oakum. + +Number 6. Had slept out four nights running. Was a distiller by trade +been out four months; unwilling to enter into details of leaving, but +it was his own fault. (Very likely; a heavy, thick, stubborn, and +senseless-looking fellow, six feet high, thick neck, strong limbs, +evidently destitute of ability. Does odd jobs; earned 3d. for minding +a horse, bought a cup of coffee and pen'orth of bread and butter. +Has no money now. Slept under Waterloo Bridge last night. + +No. 7. Good-natured looking man; one who would suffer and say nothing +clothes shining with age, grease, and dirt; they hang on his joints as +on pegs; awful rags! I saw him endeavouring to walk. He lifted his +feet very slowly and put them down carefully in evident pain. His legs +are bad; been in infirmary several times with them. His uncle and +grandfather were clergymen; both dead now. He was once in a good +position in a money office, and afterwards in the London and County +Bank for nine years. Then he went with an auctioneer who broke, and he +was left ill, old, and without any trade. "A clerk's place," says he, +"is never worth having, because there are so many of them, and once out +you can only get another place with difficulty. I have a +brother-in-law on the Stock Exchange, but he won't own me. Look at my +clothes? Is it likely?" + +No. 8. Slept here four nights running. Is a builder's labourer by +trade, that is, a handy-man. Had a settled job for a few weeks which +expired three weeks since. Has earned nothing for nine days. Then +helped wash down a shop front and got 2s. 6d. for it. Does anything +he can get. Is 46 years old. Earns about 2d. or 3d. a day at horse +minding. A cup of tea and a bit of bread yesterday, and same to-day, +is all he has had. + +No. 9. A plumber's labourer (all these men who are somebody's +"labourers" are poor samples of humanity, evidently lacking in grit, +and destitute of ability to do any work which would mean decent wages). +Judging from appearances, they will do nothing well. They are a kind +of automaton, with the machinery rusty; slow, dull, and incapable. +The man of ordinary intelligence leaves them in the rear. They could +doubtless earn more even at odd jobs, but lack the energy. Of course, +this means little food, exposure to weather, and increased incapability +day by day. ("From him that hath not," etc.) Out of work through +slackness, does odd jobs; slept here three nights running. Is a dock +labourer when he can get work. Has 6d. an hour; works so many hours, +according as he is wanted. Gets 2s., 3s., or 4s. 6d. a day. +Has to work very hard for it. Casual ward life is also very hard he +says, for those who are not used to it, and there is not enough to eat. +Has had to-day a pen'orth of bread, for minding a cab. Yesterday he +spent 3 1/2d. on a breakfast, and that lasted him all day. Age 25. + +No. 10. Been out of work a month. Carman by trade. Arm withered, +and cannot do work properly. Has slept here all the week; got an awful +cold through the wet. Lives at odd jobs (they all do). Got sixpence +yesterday for minding a cab and carrying a couple of parcels. +Earned nothing to-day, but had one good meal; a lady gave it him. +Has been walking about all day looking for work, and is tired out. + +No. 11. Youth, aged 16. Sad case; Londoner. Works at odd jobs and +matches selling. Has taken 3d. to-day, i.e., net profit 1 1/2d. Has +five boxes still. Has slept here every night for a month. Before that +slept in Covent Garden Market or on doorsteps. Been sleeping out six +months, since he left Feltham Industrial School. Was sent there for +playing truant. Has had one bit of bread to-day; yesterday had only +some gooseberries and cherries, i.e., bad ones that had been thrown +away. Mother is alive. She "chucked him out" when he returned home on +leaving Feltham because he could'nt find her money for drink. + +No. 12. Old man, age 67. Seems to take rather a humorous view of the +position. Kind of Mark Tapley. Says he can't say he does like it, but +then he must like it! Ha, ha! Is a slater by trade. Been out of work +some time; younger men naturally get the work. Gets a bit of +bricklaying sometimes; can turn his hand to anything. Goes miles and +gets nothing. Earned one and twopence this week at holding horses. +Finds it hard, certainly. Used to care once, and get down-hearted, but +that's no good; don't trouble now. Had a bit of bread and butter and +cup of coffee to-day. Health is awful bad, not half the size he was; +exposure and want of food is the cause; got wet last night, and is very +stiff in consequence. Has been walking about since it was light, that +is 3 a.m. Was so cold and wet and weak, scarcely knew what to do. +Walked to Hyde Park, and got a little sleep there on a dry seat as soon +as the park opened. + +These are fairly typical cases of the men who are now wandering +homeless through the streets. That is the way in which the nomads of +civilization are constantly being recruited from above. + +Such are the stories gathered at random one Midsummer night this year +under the shade of the plane trees of the Embankment. A month later, +when one of my staff took the census of the sleepers out of doors along +the line of the Thames from Blackfriars to Westminster, he found three +hundred and sixty-eight persons sleeping in the open air. Of these, +two hundred and seventy were on the Embankment proper, and ninety-eight +in and about Covent Garden Market, while the recesses of Waterloo and +Blackfriars Bridges were full of human misery. + +This, be it remembered, was not during a season of bad trade. +The revival of business has been attested on all hands, notably by the +barometer of strong drink. England is prosperous enough to drink rum +in quantities which appall the Chancellor of the Exchequer but she is +not prosperous enough to provide other shelter than the midnight sky +for these poor outcasts on the Embankment. + +To very many even of those who live in London it may be news that there +are so many hundreds who sleep out of doors every night. There are +comparatively few people stirring after midnight, and when we are +snugly tucked into our own beds we are apt to forget the multitude +outside in the rain and the storm who are shivering the long hours +through on the hard stone seats in the open or under the arches of the +railway. These homeless, hungry people are, however there, but being +broken-spirited folk for the most part they seldom make their voices +audible in the ears of their neighbours. Now and again, however, a +harsh cry from the depths is heard for a moment, jarring rudely upon +the ear and then all is still. The inarticulate classes speak as +seldom as Balaam's ass. But they sometimes find a voice. Here for +instance is one such case which impressed me much. It was reported in +one of the Liverpool papers some time back. The speaker was haranguing +a small knot of twenty or thirty men: -- + +"My lads," he commenced, with one hand in the breast of his ragged +vest, and the other, as usual, plucking nervously at his beard, +"This kind o' work can't last for ever." (Deep and earnest +exclamations, "It can't! It shan't") "Well, boys," continued the +speaker, "Somebody'll have to find a road out o' this. What we want is +work, not work'us bounty, though the parish has been busy enough +amongst us lately, God knows! What we want is honest work, +(Hear, hear.) Now, what I propose is that each of you gets fifty mates +to join you; that'll make about 1,200 starving chaps--And then?" +asked several very gaunt and hungry-looking men excitedly. +"Why, then," continued the leader. "Why, then," interrupted a +cadaverous-looking man from the farther and darkest end of the cellar, +"of course we'll make a--London job of it, eh?" "No, no," hastily +interposed my friend, and holding up his hands deprecatingly, "we'll go +peaceably about it chaps; we'll go in a body to the Town Hall, and show +our poverty, and ask for work. We'll take the women and children with +us too." ("Too ragged! Too starved! They can't walk it!") "The women's +rags is no disgrace, the staggerin' children 'll show what we come to. +Let's go a thousand strong, and ask for work and bread!" + +Three years ago, in London, there were some such processions. Church +parades to the Abbey and St. Paul's, bivouacs in Trafalgar Square, etc. +But Lazarus showed his rags and his sores too conspicuously for +the convenience of Dives, and was summarily dealt with in the name of +law and order. But as we have Lord Mayor's Days, when all the well-fed +fur-clad City Fathers go in State Coaches through the town, why should +we not have a Lazarus Day, in which the starving Out-of-Works, and the +sweated half-starved "in-works" of London should crawl in their +tattered raggedness, with their gaunt, hungry faces, and emaciated +Wives and children, a Procession of Despair through the main +thoroughfares past the massive houses and princely palaces of luxurious +London? + +For these men are gradually, but surely, being sucked down into the +quicksand of modern life. They stretch out their grimy hands to us in +vain appeal, not for charity, but for work. + +Work, work! it is always work that they ask. The Divine curse is to +them the most blessed of benedictions. "In the sweat of thy brow thou +shalt eat thy bread," but alas for these forlorn sons of Adam, they +fail to find the bread to eat, for Society has no work for them to do. +They have not even leave to sweat. As well as discussing how these +poor wanderers should in the second Adam "all be made alive," ought we +not to put forth some effort to effect their restoration to that share +in the heritage of lab our which is theirs by right of descent from the +first Adam? + + +CHAPTER 4. THE OUT-OF-WORKS + +There is hardly any more pathetic figure than that of the strong able +worker crying plaintively in the midst of our palaces and churches not +for charity, but for work, asking only to be allowed the privilege of +perpetual hard labour, that thereby he may earn wherewith to fill his +empty belly and silence the cry of his children for food. Crying for it +and not getting it, seeking for labour as lost treasure and finding it +not, until at last, all spirit and vigour worn out in the weary quest, +the once willing worker becomes a broken-down drudge, sodden with +wretchedness and despairing of all help in this world or in that which +is to come. Our organisation of industry certainly leaves much to be +desired. A problem which even slave owners have solved ought not to be +abandoned as insoluble by the Christian civilisation of the Nineteenth +Century. + +I have already given a few life stories taken down from the lip: of +those who were found homeless on the Embankment which suggest somewhat +of the hardships and the misery of the fruitless search for work. +But what a volume of dull, squalid horror--a horror of great darkness +gradually obscuring all the light of day from the life of the sufferer +might be written from the simple prosaic experiences of the ragged +fellows whom you meet every day in the street. These men, whose labour +is their only capital, are allowed, nay compelled to waste day after +day by the want of any means of employment, and then when they have +seen days and weeks roll by during which their capital has been wasted +by pounds and pounds, they are lectured for not saving the pence. +When a rich man cannot employ his capital he puts it out at interest, +but the bank for the labour capital of the poor man has yet to be +invented. Yet it might be worth while inventing one. A man's labour +is not only his capital but his life. When it passes it returns never +more. To utilise it, to prevent its wasteful squandering, to enable +the poor man to bank it up for use hereafter, this surely is one of the +most urgent tasks before civilisation. + +Of all heart-breaking toil the hunt for work is surely the worst. +Yet at any moment let a workman lose his present situation, and he is +compelled to begin anew the dreary round of fruitless calls. Here is +the story of one among thousands of the nomads, taken down from his own +lips, of one who was driven by sheer hunger into crime. + +A bright Spring morning found me landed from a western colony. +Fourteen years had passed since I embarked from the same spot. +They were fourteen years, as far as results were concerned, of +non-success, and here I was again in my own land, a stranger, with anew +career to carve for myself and the battle of life to fight over again. + +My first thought was work. Never before had I felt more eager for a +down right good chance to win my way by honest toil; but where was I to +find work. With firm determination I started in search. One day +passed without success and another, and another, but the thought +cheered me, "Better luck to-morrow." It has been said, "Hope springs +eternal in the human breast." In my case it was to be severely tested. +Days soon ran into weeks, and still I was on the trail patiently and +hopefully. Courtesy and politeness so often met me in my enquiries for +employment that I often wished they would kick me out, and so vary the +monotony of the sickly veneer of consideration that so thinly overlaid +the indifference and the absolute unconcern they had to my need. A few +cut up rough and said, No; we don't want you. "Please don't trouble us +again (this after the second visit). We have no vacancy; and if we +had, we have plenty of people on hand to fill it." + +Who can express the feeling that comes over one when the fact begins to +dawn that the search for work is a failure? All my hopes and prospects +seemed to have turned out false. Helplessness, I had often heard of +it, had often talked about it, thought I knew all about it. Yes! in +others, but now began to understand it for myself. Gradually my +personal appearance faded. My once faultless linen became unkempt and +unclean. Down further and further went the heels of my shoes, and I +drifted into that distressing condition "shabby gentility." If the odds +were against me before, how much more so now, seeing that I was too +shabby even to command attention, much less a reply to my enquiry for +work. + +Hunger now began to do its work, and I drifted to the dock gates, but +what chance had I among the hungry giants there? And so down the +stream drifted until "Grim Want" brought me to the last shilling, the +last lodging, and the last meal. What shall I do? Where shall I go? +I tried to think. Must I starve? Surely there must be some door still +open for honest willing endeavour, but where? What can I do? "Drink," +said the Tempter; but to drink to drunkenness needs cash, and oblivion +by liquor demands an equivalent in the currency. + +Starve or steal. "You must do one or the other," said the Tempter. +But recoiled from being a Thief. "Why be so particular?" says the +Tempter again "You are down now, who will trouble about you? +Why trouble about yourself? The choice is between starving and +stealing." And I struggled until hunger stole my judgment, and then I +became a Thief. + +No one can pretend that it was an idle fear of death by starvation +which drove this poor fellow to steal. Deaths from actual hunger an +more common than is generally supposed. Last year, a man, whose name +was never known, was walking through St. James's Park, when three of +our Shelter men saw him suddenly stumble and fall. They thought he was +drunk, but found he had fainted. They carried him to the bridge and +gave him to the police. They took him to St George's Hospital, where +he died. It appeared that he had, according to his own tale, walked up +from Liverpool, and had been without food for five days. The doctor, +however, said he had gone longer than that. The jury returned a +verdict of "Death from Starvation." + +Without food for five days or longer! Who that has experienced the +sinking sensation that is felt when even a single meal has been +sacrificed may form some idea of what kind of slow torture killed that +man! + +In 1888 the average daily number of unemployed in London was estimated +by the Mansion House Committee at 20,000. This vast reservoir of +unemployed labour is the bane of all efforts to raise the scale of +living, to improve the condition of labour. Men hungering to death for +lack of opportunity to earn a crust are the materials from which +"blacklegs" are made, by whose aid the labourer is constantly defeated +in his attempts to improve his condition. + +This is the problem that underlies all questions of Trades Unionism and +all Schemes for the Improvement of the Condition of the Industrial Army. +To rear any stable edifice that will not perish when the first storm +rises and the first hurricane blows, it must be built not upon sand, +but upon a rock. And the worst of all existing Schemes for social +betterment by organisation of the skilled workers and the like is that +they are founded, not upon "rock," nor even upon "sand," but upon the +bottomless bog of the stratum of the Workless. It is here where we +must begin. The regimentation of industrial workers who have got +regular work is not so very difficult. That can be done, and is +being done, by themselves. The problem that we have to face is the +regimentation, the organisation, of those who have not got work, or who +have only irregular work, and who from sheer pressure of absolute +starvation are driven irresistibly into cut-throat competition with +their better employed brothers and sisters. Skin for skin, all that a +man hath, will he give for his life; much more, then, will those who +experimentally know not God give all that they might hope hereafter to +have--in this world or in the world to come. + +There is no gainsaying the immensity of the problem. It is appalling +enough to make us despair. But those who do not put their trust in man +alone, but in One who is Almighty, have no right to despair. +To despair is to lose faith; to despair is to forget God Without God we +can do nothing in this frightful chaos of human misery. But with God +we can do all things, and in the faith that He has made in His image +all the children of men we face even this hideous wreckage of humanity +with a cheerful confidence that if we are but faithful to our own high +calling He will not fail to open up a way of deliverance. + +I have nothing to say against those who are endeavouring to open up a +way of escape without any consciousness of God's help. For them I feel +only sympathy and compassion. In so far as they are endeavouring to +give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and above all, work to +the workless, they are to that extent endeavouring to do the will of +our Father which is in Heaven, and woe be unto all those who say them +nay! But to be orphaned of all sense of the Fatherhood of God is surely +not a secret source of strength. It is in most cases--it would be in +my own--the secret of paralysis. If I did not feel my Father's hand +in the darkness, and hear His voice in the silence of the night watches +bidding me put my hand to this thing, I would shrink back dismayed;-- +but as it is I dare not. + +How many are there who have made similar attempts and have failed, and +we have heard of them no more! Yet none of them proposed to deal with +more than the mere fringe of the evil which, God helping me, I will try +to face in all its immensity. Most Schemes that are put forward for +the Improvement of the Circumstances of the People are either avowedly +or actually limited to those whose condition least needs amelioration. +The Utopians, the economists, and most of the philanthropists propound +remedies, which, if adopted to-morrow, would only affect the +aristocracy of the miserable. It is the thrifty, the industrious, +the sober, the thoughtful who can take advantage of these plans. +But the thrifty, the industrious, the sober, and the thoughtful are +already very well able for the most part to take care of themselves. +No one will ever make even a visible dint on the Morass of Squalor who +does not deal with the improvident, the lazy, the vicious, and the +criminal. The Scheme of Social Salvation is not worth discussion which +is not as wide as the Scheme of Eternal Salvation set forth in the +Gospel. The Glad Tidings must be to every creature, not merely to an +elect few who are to be saved while the mass of their fellow are +predestined to a temporal damnation. We have had this doctrine of an +inhuman cast-iron pseudo-political economy too long enthroned amongst us. +It is now time to fling down the false idol and proclaim a Temporal +Salvation as full, free, and universal, and with no other limitations +than the "Whosoever will," of the Gospel. + +To attempt to save the Lost, we must accept no Limitations to human +brotherhood. If the Scheme which I set forth in these and the +following pages is not applicable to the Thief, the Harlot, +the Drunkard, and the Sluggard, it may as well be dismissed without +ceremony. As Christ came to call not the saints but sinners to +repentance, so the New Message of Temporal Salvation, of salvation from +pinching poverty, from rags and misery, must be offered to all. +They may reject it, of course. But we who call ourselves by the name +of Christ are not worthy to profess to be His disciples until we have +set an open door before the least and worst of these who are now +apparently imprisoned for life in a horrible dungeon of misery and +despair. The responsibility for its rejection must be theirs, not +ours. We all know the prayer, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, +feed me with food convenient for me"--and for every child of man on +this planet, thank God the prayer of Agur, the son of Jakeh, may be +fulfilled. + +At present how far it is from being realised may be seen by anyone who +will take the trouble to go down to the docks and see the struggle for +work. Here is a sketch of what was found there this summer: -- + +London Docks, 7.25 a.m. The three pairs of huge wooden doors are +closed. Leaning against then, and standing about, there are perhaps a +couple of hundred men. The public house opposite is full, doing a +heavy trade. All along the road are groups of men, and from each +direction a steady stream increases the crowd at the gate. + +7.30 Doors open, there is a general rush to the interior. Everybody +marches about a hundred yards along to the iron barrier--a temporary +chair affair, guarded by the dock police. Those men who have +previously (i.e., night before) been engaged, show their ticket and +pass through, about six hundred. The rest--some five hundred stand +behind the barrier, patiently waiting the chance of a job, but less +than twenty of these get engaged. They are taken on by a foreman who +appears next the barrier and proceeds to pick his men. No sooner is +the foreman seen, than there is a wild rush to the spot and a sharp mad +fight to "catch his eye." The men picked out, pass the barrier, and the +excitement dies away until another lot of men are wanted. + +They wait until eight o'clock strikes, which is the signal to withdraw. +The barrier is taken down and all those hundreds of men, wearily +disperse to "find a job." Five hundred applicants, twenty acceptances! +No wonder one tired-out looking individual ejaculates, "Oh dear, +Oh dear! Whatever shall I do?" A few hang about until mid-day on the +slender chance of getting taken on then for half a day. + +Ask the men and they will tell you something like the following story, +which gives the simple experiences of a dock labourer. + +R. P. said: --"I was in regular work at the South West India Dock +before the strike. We got 5d. an hour. Start work 8 a.m. summer and +9 a.m winter. Often there would be five hundred go, and only twenty +get taken on (that is besides those engaged the night previous.) +The foreman stood in his box, and called out the men he wanted. +He would know quite five hundred by name. It was a regular fight to +get work, I have known nine hundred to be taken on, but there's always +hundreds turned away. You see they get to know when ships come in, and +when they're consequently likely to be wanted, and turn up then in +greater numbers. I would earn 30s. a week sometimes and then perhaps +nothing for a fortnight. That's what makes it so hard. You get +nothing to eat for a week scarcely, and then when you get taken on, you +are so weak that you can't do it properly. I've stood in the crowd at +the gate and had to go away without work, hundreds of times. Still I +should go at it again if I could. I got tired of the little work and +went away into the country to get work on a farm, but couldn't get it, +so I'm without the 10s. that it costs to join the Dockers' Union. I'm +going to the country again in a day or two to try again. Expect to get +3s. a day perhaps. Shall come back to the docks again. Then is a +chance of getting regular dock work, and that is, to lounge about the +pubs where the foremen go, and treat them. Then they will very likely +take you on next day." + +R. P. was a non-Unionist. Henry F. is a Unionist. His history is much +the same. + +"I worked at St. Katherine's Docks five months ago. You have to get +to the gates at 6 o'clock for the first call. There's generally about +400 waiting. They will take on one to two hundred. Then at 7 o'clock +there's a second call. Another 400 will have gathered by then, and +another hundred or so will be taken on. Also there will probably be +calls at nine and one o'clock. About the same number turn up but +there's no work for many hundreds of them. I was a Union man. That +means 10s. a week sick pay, or 8s. a week for slight accidents; also +some other advantages. The Docks won't take men on now unless they are +Unionists. The point is that there's too many men. I would often be +out of work a fortnight to three weeks at a time. Once earned #3 in a +week, working day and night, but then had a fortnight out directly +after. Especially when then don't happen to be any ships in for a few +days, which means, of course, nothing to unload. That's the time; +there's plenty of men almost starving then. They have no trade to go +to, or can get no work at it, and they swoop down to the docks for +work, when they had much better stay away." + +But it is not only at the dock-gates that you come upon these +unfortunates who spend their lives in the vain hunt for work. Here is +the story of another man whose case has only too many parallels. + +C. is a fine built man, standing nearly six feet. He has been in the +Royal Artillery for eight years and held very good situations whilst in +it. It seems that he was thrifty and consequently steady. He bought +his discharge, and being an excellent cook opened a refreshment house, +but at the end of five months he was compelled to close his shop on +account of slackness in trade, which was brought about by the closing +of a large factory in the locality. + +After having worked in Scotland and Newcastle-on-Tyne for a few years, +and through ill health having to give up his situation, he came to +London with he hope that he might get something to do in his native +town. He has had no regular employment for the past eight months. +His wife and family are in a state of destitution, and he remarked, +"We only had 1 lb. of bread between us yesterday." He is six weeks in +arrears of rent, and is afraid that he will be ejected. The furniture +which is in his home is not worth 3s. and the clothes of each member +of his family are in a tattered state and hardly fit for the rag bag. +He assured us he had tried every where to get employment and would be +willing to take anything. His characters are very good indeed. + +Now, it may seem a preposterous dream that any arrangement can be +devised by which it may be possible, under all circumstances, +to provide food, clothes, and shelter for all these Out-of-Works +without any loss of self respect; but I am convinced that it can be +done, providing only that they are willing to Work, and, God helping +me, if the means are forthcoming, I mean to try to do it; how, and +where, and when, I will explain in subsequent chapters. + +All that I need say here is, that so long as a man or woman is willing +to submit to the discipline indispensable in every campaign against any +formidable foe, there appears to me nothing impossible about this +ideal; and the great element of hope before us is that the majority +are, beyond all gainsaying, eager for work. Most of them now do more +exhausting work in seeking for employment than the regular toilers do +in their workshops, and do it, too, under the darkness of hope deferred +which maketh the heart sick. + + +CHAPTER 5. ON THE VERGE OF THE ABYSS. + +There is, unfortunately, no need for me to attempt to set out, however +imperfectly, any statement of the evil case of the sufferers what we +wish to help. For years past the Press has been filled with echoes of +the "Bitter Cry of Outcast London," with pictures of "Horrible Glasgow," +and the like. We have had several volumes describing "How the Poor Live" +and I may therefore assume that all my readers are more or less cognizant +of the main outlines a "Darkest England." My slum officers are living in +the midst of it their reports are before me, and one day I may publish +some more detailed account of the actual facts of the social condition +of the Sunken Millions. But not now. All that must be taken as read. +I only glance at the subject in order to bring into clear relief the +salient points of our new Enterprise. + +I have spoken of the houseless poor. Each of these represents a point +in the scale of human suffering below that of those who have still +contrived to keep a shelter over their heads. A home is a home, be it +ever so low; and the desperate tenacity with which the poor will cling +to the last wretched semblance of one is very touching. There are vile +dens, fever-haunted and stenchful crowded courts, where the return of +summer is dreaded because it means the unloosing of myriads of vermin +which render night unbearable, which, nevertheless, are regarded at +this moment as havens of rest by their hard-working occupants. +They can scarcely be said to be furnished. A chair, a mattress, and a +few miserable sticks constitute all the furniture of the single room in +which they have to sleep, and breed, and die; but they cling to it as a +drowning man to a half-submerged raft. Every week they contrive by +pinching and scheming to raise the rent, for with them it is pay or go +and they struggle to meet the collector as the sailor nerves himself to +avoid being sucked under by the foaming wave. If at any time work +fails or sickness comes they are liable to drop helplessly into the +ranks of the homeless. It is bad for a single man to have to confront +the struggle for life in the streets and Casual Wards. But how much +more terrible must it be for the married man with his wife and children +to be turned out into the streets. So long as the family has a lair +into which it can creep at night, he keeps his footing; but when he +loses that solitary foothold then arrives the time if there be such a +thing as Christian compassion, for the helping hand to be held out to +save him from the vortex that sucks him downward--ay, downward to the +hopeless under-strata of crime and despair. + +"The heart knoweth its own bitterness and the stranger inter-meddleth +not therewith." But now and then out of the depths there sounds a +bitter wail as of some strong swimmer in his agony as he is drawn under +by the current. A short time ago a respectable man, a chemist in +Holloway, fifty years of age, driven hard to the wall, tried to end it +all by cutting his throat. His wife also cut her throat, and at the +same time they gave strychnine to their only child. The effort failed, +and they were placed on trial for attempted murder. In the Court a +letter was read which the poor wretch had written before attempting his +life:- + +MY DEAREST GEORGE,--Twelve months have I now passed of a most +miserable and struggling existence, and I really cannot stand it any +more. I am completely worn out, and relations who could assist me +won't do any more, for such was uncle's last intimation. Never mind; +he can't take his money and comfort with him, and in all probability +will find himself in the same boat as myself. He never enquires +whether I am starving or not. #3--a mere flea-bite to him--would +have put us straight, and with his security and good interest might +have obtained me a good situation long ago. I can face poverty and +degradation no longer, and would sooner die than go to the workhouse, +whatever may be the awful consequences of the steps we have taken. +We have, God forgive us, taken our darling Arty with us out of pure +love and affection, so that the darling should never be cuffed about, +or reminded or taunted with his heartbroken parents' crime. My poor +wife has done her best at needle-work, washing, house-minding, &c., +in fact, anything and everything that would bring in a shilling; but it +would only keep us in semi-starvation. I have now done six weeks' +travelling from morning till night, and not received one farthing for +it, If that is not enough to drive you mad--wickedly mad--I don't +know what is. No bright prospect anywhere; no ray of hope. + +May God Almighty forgive us for this heinous sin, and have mercy on our +sinful souls, is the prayer of your miserable, broken-hearted, but +loving brother, Arthur. We have now done everything that we can +possibly think of to avert this wicked proceeding, but can discover no +ray of hope. Fervent prayer has availed us nothing; our lot is cast, +and we must abide by it. It must be God's will or He would have +ordained it differently. Dearest Georgy, I am exceedingly sorry to +leave you all, but I am mad--thoroughly mad. You, dear, must try and +forget us, and, if possible, forgive us; for I do not consider it our +own fault we have not succeeded. If you could get #3 for our bed it +will pay our rent, and our scanty furniture may fetch enough to bury us +in a cheap way. Don't grieve over us or follow us, for we shall not be +worthy of such respect. Our clergyman has never called on us or given +us the least consolation, though I called on him a month ago. He is +paid to preach, and there he considers his responsibility ends, the +rich excepted. We have only yourself and a very few others who care +one pin what becomes of us, but you must try and forgive us, is the +last fervent prayer of your devotedly fond and affectionate but +broken-hearted and persecuted brother. +(Signed) R. A. O----. + +That is an authentic human document--a transcript from the life of +one among thousands who go down inarticulate into the depths, They die +and make no sign, or, worse still, they continue to exist, carrying +about with them, year after year, the bitter ashes of a life from which +the furnace of misfortune has burnt away all joy, and hope, and +strength. Who is there who has not been confronted by many despairing +ones, who come, as Richard O---- went, to the clergyman, crying for +help, and how seldom have we been able to give it them? It is unjust, +no doubt, for them to blame the clergy and the comfortable well-to-do +--for what can they do but preach and offer good advice? To assist +all the Richard O----s' by direct financial advance would drag even +Rothschild into the gutter. And what else can be done? Yet something +else must be done if Christianity is not to be a mockery to perishing +men. + +Here is another case, a very common case, which illustrates how the +Army of Despair is recruited. + +Mr. T., Margaret Place, Gascoign Place, Bethnal Green, is a bootmaker +by trade. Is a good hand, and has earned three shillings and sixpence +to four shillings and sixpence a day. He was taken ill last Christmas, +and went to the London Hospital; was there three months. A week after +he had gone Mrs. T. had rheumatic fever, and was taken to Bethnal +Green Infirmary, where she remained about three months. Directly after +they had been taken ill, their furniture was seized for the three +weeks' rent which was owing. Consequently, on becoming convalescent, +they were homeless. They came out about the same time. He went out to +a lodging-house for a night or two, until she came out. He then had +twopence, and she had sixpence, which a nurse had given her. They went +to a lodging-house together, but the society there was dreadful. +Next day he had a day's work, and got two shillings and sixpence, and +on the strength of this they took a furnished room at tenpence per day +(payable nightly). His work lasted a few weeks, when he was again +taken ill, lost his job, and spent all their money. Pawned a shirt and +apron for a shilling; spent that, too. At last pawned their tools for +three shillings, which got them a few days' food and lodging. He is +now minus tools and cannot work at his own job, and does anything he +can. Spent their last twopence on a pen'orth each of tea and sugar. +In two days they had a slice of bread and butter each, that's all. +They are both very weak through want of food. + +"Let things alone," the laws of supply and demand, and all the rest +of the excuses by which those who stand on firm ground salve their +consciences when they leave their brother to sink, how do they look +when we apply them to the actual loss of life at sea? Does "Let things +alone" man the lifeboat? Will the inexorable laws of political economy +save the shipwrecked sailor from the boiling surf? They often enough +are responsible for his disaster. Coffin ships are a direct result of +the wretched policy of non-interference with the legitimate operations +of commerce, but no desire to make it pay created the National Lifeboat +Institution, no law of supply and demand actuates the volunteers who +risk their lives to bring the shipwrecked to shore. + +What we have to do is to apply the same principle to society. We want +a Social Lifeboat Institution, a Social Lifeboat Brigade, to snatch +from the abyss those who, if left to themselves, will perish as +miserably as the crew of a ship that founders in mid-ocean. + +The moment that we take in hand this work we shall be compelled to turn +our attention seriously to the question whether prevention is not +better than cure. It is easier and cheaper, and in every way better, +to prevent the loss of home than to have to re-create that home. +It is better to keep a man out of the mire than to let him fall in +first and then risk the chance of plucking him out. Any Scheme, +therefore, that attempts to deal with the reclamation of the lost must +tend to develop into an endless variety of ameliorative measures, of +some of which I shall have somewhat to say hereafter. I only mention +the subject here in order that no one may say I am blind to the +necessity of going further and adopting wider plans of operation than +those which I put forward in this book. The renovation of our Social +System is a work so vast that no one of us, nor all of us put together, +can define all the measures that will have to be taken before we attain +even the Cab-Horse Ideal of existence for our children and children's +children. All that we can do is to attack, in a serious, practical +spirit the worst and most pressing evils, knowing that if we do our +duty we obey the voice of God. He is the Captain of our Salvation. +If we but follow where He leads we shall not want for marching orders, +nor need we imagine that He will narrow the field of operations. + +I am labouring under no delusions as to the possibility of inaugurating +the Millennium by any social specific. In the struggle of life the +weakest will go to the wall, and there are so many weak. The fittest, +in tooth and claw, will survive. All that we can do is to soften the +lot of the unfit and make their suffering less horrible than it is at +present. No amount of assistance will give a jellyfish a backbone. +No outside propping will make some men stand erect. All material help +from without is useful only in so far as it develops moral strength +within. And some men seem to have lost even the very faculty of +self-help. There is an immense lack of common sense and of vital +energy on the part of multitudes. + +It is against Stupidity in every shape and form that we have to wage +our eternal battle. But how can we wonder at the want of sense on the +part of those who have had no advantages, when we see such plentiful +absence of that commodity on the part of those who have had all the +advantages? + +How can we marvel if, after leaving generation after generation to grow +up uneducated and underfed, there should be developed a heredity of +incapacity, and that thousands of dull-witted people should be born +into the world, disinherited before their birth of their share in the +average intelligence of mankind? + +Besides those who are thus hereditarily wanting in the qualities +necessary to enable them to hold their own, there are the weak, the +disabled, the aged, and the unskilled; worse than all, there is the +want of character. Those who have the best of reputation, if they lose +their foothold on the ladder, find it difficult enough to regain their +place. What, then, can men and women who have no character do? When a +master has the choice of a hundred honest men, is it reasonable to +expect that he will select a poor fellow with tarnished reputation? +All this is true, and it is one of the things that makes the problem +almost insoluble. And insoluble it is, I am absolutely convinced +unless it is possible to bring new moral life into the soul of these +people. This should be the first object of every social reformer, +whose work will only last if it is built on the solid foundation of a +new birth, to cry "You must be born again." + +To get a man soundly saved it is not enough to put on him a pair of new +breeches, to give him regular work, or even to give him a University +education. These things are all outside a man, and if the inside +remains unchanged you have wasted your labour. You must in some way or +other graft upon the man's nature a new nature, which has in it the +element of the Divine. All that I propose in this book is governed by +that principle. + +The difference between the method which seeks to regenerate the man by +ameliorating his circumstances and that which ameliorates his +circumstances in order to get at the regeneration of his heart, is the +difference between the method of the gardener who grafts a Ribstone +Pippin on a crab-apple tree and one who merely ties apples with string +upon the branches of the crab. To change the nature of the individual, +to get at the heart, to save his soul is the only real, lasting method +of doing him any good. In many modern schemes of social regeneration +it is forgotten that "it takes a soul to move a body, e'en to a cleaner +sty," and at the risk of being misunderstood and misrepresented, I must +assert in the most unqualified way that it is primarily and mainly for +the sake of saving the soul that I seek the salvation of the body. + +But what is the use of preaching the Gospel to men whose whole +attention is concentrated upon a mad, desperate struggle to keep +themselves alive? You might as well give a tract to a shipwrecked +sailor who is battling with the surf which has drowned his comrades and +threatens to drown him. He will not listen to you. Nay, he cannot +hear you any more than a man whose head is underwater can listen to a +sermon. The first thing to do is to get him at least a footing on firm +ground, and to give him room to live. Then you may have a chance. +At present you have none. And you will have all the better opportunity +to find a way to his heart, if he comes to know that it was you who +pulled him out of the horrible pit and the miry clay in which he was +sinking to perdition. + + +CHAPTER 6. THE VICIOUS. + +There are many vices and seven deadly sins. But of late years many of +the seven have contrived to pass themselves off as virtues. Avarice, +for instance; and Pride, when re-baptised thrift and self-respect, have +become the guardian angels of Christian civilisation; and as for Envy, +it is the corner-stone upon which much of our competitive system is +founded. There are still two vices which are fortunate, or +unfortunate, enough to remain undisguised, not even concealing from +themselves the fact that they are vices and not virtues. One is +drunkenness; the other fornication. The viciousness of these vices is +so little disguised, even from those who habitually practise them, that +there will be a protest against merely describing one of them by the +right Biblical name. Why not say prostitution? For this reason: +prostitution is a word applied to only one half of the vice, and that +the most pitiable. Fornication hits both sinners alike. Prostitution +applies only to the woman. + +When, however, we cease to regard this vice from the point of view of +morality and religion, and look at it solely as a factor in the social +problem, the word prostitution is less objectionable. For the social +burden of this vice is borne almost entirely by women. The male sinner +does not, by the mere fact of his sin, find himself in a worse position +in obtaining employment, in finding a home, or even in securing a wife. +His wrong-doing only hits him in his purse, or, perhaps, in his health. +His incontinence, excepting so far as it relates to the woman whose +degradation it necessitates, does not add to the number of those for +whom society has to provide. It is an immense addition to the infamy +of this vice in man that its consequences have to be borne almost +exclusively by woman. The difficulty of dealing with drunkards and +harlots is almost insurmountable. Were it not that I utterly repudiate +as a fundamental denial of the essential principle of the Christian +religion the popular pseudo-scientific doctrine that any man or woman +is past saving by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, +I would sometimes be disposed to despair when contemplating these +victims of the Devil. The doctrine of Heredity and the suggestion of +Irresponsibility come perilously near re-establishing, on scientific +bases, the awful dogma of Reprobation which has cast so terrible a +shadow over the Christian Church. For thousands upon thousands of +these poor wretches are, as Bishop South truly said, "not so much born +into this world as damned into it." The bastard of a harlot, born in a +brothel, suckled on gin, and familiar from earliest infancy with all +the bestialities of debauch, violated before she is twelve, and driven +out into the streets by her mother a year or two later, what chance is +there for such a girl in this world--I say nothing about the next? +Yet such a case is not exceptional. There are many such differing in +detail, but in essentials the same. And with boys it is almost as bad. +There are thousands who were begotten when both parents were besotted +with drink, whose mothers saturated themselves with alcohol every day +of their pregnancy, who may be said to have sucked in a taste for +strong drink with their mothers' milk, and who were surrounded from +childhood with opportunities and incitements to drink. How can we +marvel that the constitution thus disposed to intemperance finds the +stimulus of drink indispensable? Even if they make a stand against it, +the increasing pressure of exhaustion and of scanty food drives them +back to the cup. Of these poor wretches, born slaves of the bottle, +predestined to drunkenness from their mother's womb, there are--who +can say how many? Yet they are all men; all with what the Russian +peasants call "a spark of God" in them, which can never be wholly +obscured and destroyed while life exists, and if any social scheme is +to be comprehensive and practical it must deal with these men. It must +provide for the drunkard and the harlot as it provides for the +improvident and the out-of-work. But who is sufficient for these +things? + +I will take the question of the drunkard, for the drink difficulty lies +at the root of everything. Nine-tenths of our poverty, squalor, vice, +and crime spring from this poisonous tap-root. Many of our social +evils, which overshadow the land like so many upas trees, would dwindle +away and die if they were not constantly watered with strong drink. +There is universal agreement on that point; in fact, the agreement as +to the evils of intemperance is almost as universal as the conviction +that politicians will do nothing practical to interfere with them. +In Ireland, Mr. Justice Fitzgerald says that intemperance leads to +nineteen-twentieths of the crime in that country, but no one proposes a +Coercion Act to deal with that evil. In England, the judges all say +the same thing. Of course it is a mistake to assume that a murder, for +instance, would never be committed by sober men, because murderers in +most cases prime themselves for their deadly work by a glass of Dutch +courage. But the facility of securing a reinforcement of passion +undoubtedly tends to render always dangerous, and sometimes +irresistible, the temptation to violate the laws of God and man. + +Mere lectures against the evil habit are, however, of no avail. +We have to recognise, that the gin-palace, like many other evils, +although a poisonous, is still a natural outgrowth of our social +conditions. The tap-room in many cases is the poor man's only parlour. +Many a man takes to beer, not from the love of beer, but from a natural +craving for the light, warmth, company, and comfort which is thrown in +along with the beer, and which he cannot get excepting by buying beer. +Reformers will never get rid of the drink shop until they can outbid it +in the subsidiary attractions which it offers to its customers. +Then, again, let us never forget that the temptation to drink is +strongest when want is sharpest and misery the most acute. A well-fed +man is not driven to drink by the craving that torments the hungry; and +the comfortable do not crave for the boon of forgetfulness. Gin is the +only Lethe of the miserable. The foul and poisoned air of the dens in +which thousands live predisposes to a longing for stimulant. +Fresh air, with its oxygen and its ozone, being lacking, a man supplies +the want with spirit. After a time the longing for drink becomes a +mania. Life seems as insupportable without alcohol as without food. +It is a disease often inherited, always developed by indulgence, but as +clearly a disease as ophthalmia or stone. + +All this should predispose us to charity and sympathy. +While recognising that the primary responsibility must always rest upon +the individual, we may fairly insist that society, which, by its +habits, its customs, and its laws, has greased the slope down which +these poor creatures slide to perdition, shall seriously take in hand +their salvation. How many are there who are, more or less, under the +dominion of strong drink? Statistics abound, but they seldom tell us +what we want to know. We know how many public-houses there are in the +land, and how many arrests for drunkenness the police make in a year; +but beyond that we know little. Everyone knows that for one man who is +arrested for drunkenness there are at least ten and often twenty--who +go home intoxicated. In London, for instance, there are 14,000 drink +shops, and every year 20,000 persons are arrested for drunkenness. But +who can for a moment believe that there are only 20,000, more or less, +habitual drunkards in London? By habitual drunkard I do not mean one +who is always drunk, but one who is so much under the dominion of the +evil habit that he cannot be depended upon not to get drunk whenever +the opportunity offers. + +In the United Kingdom there are 190,000 public-houses, and every year +there are 200,000 arrests for drunkenness. Of course, several of these +arrests refer to the same person, who is locked up again and again. +Were this not so, if we allowed six drunkards to each house as an +average, or five habitual drunkards for one arrested for drunkenness, +we should arrive at a total of a million adults who are more or less +prisoners of the publican--as a matter of fact, Isaac Hoyle gives +1 in 12 of the adult population. This may be an excessive estimate, +but, if we take half of a million, we shall not be accused of +exaggeration. Of these some are in the last stage of confirmed +dipsomania; others are but over the verge; but the procession tends +ever downwards. + +The loss which the maintenance of this huge standing army of a half of +a million of men who are more or less always besotted men whose +intemperance impairs their working power, consumes their earnings, and +renders their homes wretched, has long been a familiar theme of the +platform. But what can be done for them? Total abstinence is no doubt +admirable, but how are you to get them to be totally abstinent? When a +man is drowning in mid-ocean the one thing that is needful, no doubt, +is that he should plant his feet firmly on terra firma. But how is he +to get there? It is just what he cannot do. And so it is with the +drunkards. If they are to be rescued there must be something more done +for them than at present is attempted, unless, of course, we decide +definitely to allow the iron laws of nature to work themselves out in +their destruction. In that case it might be more merciful to +facilitate the slow workings of natural law. There is no need of +establishing a lethal chamber for drunkards like that into which the +lost dogs of London are driven, to die in peaceful sleep under the +influence of carbonic oxide. The State would only need to go a little +further than it goes at present in the way of supplying poison to the +community. If, in addition to planting a flaming gin palace at each +corner, free to all who enter, it were to supply free gin to all who +have attained a certain recognised standard of inebriety, delirium +tremens would soon reduce our drunken population to manageable +proportions. I can imagine a cynical millionaire of the scientific +philanthropic school making a clearance of all the drunkards in a +district by the simple expedient of an unlimited allowance of alcohol. +But that for us is out of the question. The problem of what to do with +our half of a million drunkards remains to be solved, and few more +difficult questions confront the social reformer. + +The question of the harlots is, however, quite as insoluble by the +ordinary methods. For these unfortunates no one who looks below the +surface can fail to have the deepest sympathy. Some there are, no +doubt, perhaps many, who--whether from inherited passion or from evil +education--have deliberately embarked upon a life of vice, but with +the majority it is not so. Even those who deliberately and of free +choice adopt the profession of a prostitute, do so under the stress of +temptations which few moralists seem to realise. Terrible as the fact +is, there is no doubt it is a fact that there is no industrial career +in which for a short time a beautiful girl can make as much money with +as little trouble as the profession of a courtesan. The case recently +tried at the Lewes assizes, in which the wife of an officer in the army +admitted that while living as a kept mistress she had received as much +as #4,000 a year, was no doubt very exceptional. Even the most +successful adventuresses seldom make the income of a Cabinet Minister. +But take women in professions and in businesses all round, and the +number of young women who have received #500 in one year for the sale +of their person is larger than the number of women of all ages who make +a similar sum by honest industry. It is only the very few who draw +these gilded prizes, and they only do it for a very short time. But it +is the few prizes in every profession which allure the multitude, who +think little of the many blanks. And speaking broadly, vice offers to +every good-looking girl during the first bloom of her youth and beauty +more money than she can earn by labour in any field of industry open to +her sex. The penalty exacted afterwards is disease, degradation and +death, but these things at first are hidden from her sight. + +The profession of a prostitute is the only career in which the maximum +income is paid to the newest apprentice. It is the one calling in +which at the beginning the only exertion is that of self-indulgence; +all the prizes are at the commencement. It is the ever new embodiment +of the old fable of the sale of the soul to the Devil. The tempter +offers wealth, comfort, excitement, but in return the victim must sell +her soul, nor does the other party forget to exact his due to the +uttermost farthing. Human nature, however, is short-sighted. +Giddy girls, chafing against the restraints of uncongenial industry, +see the glittering bait continually before them. They are told that if +they will but "do as others do" they will make more in a night, if they +are lucky, than they can make in a week at their sewing; and who can +wonder that in many cases the irrevocable step is taken before they +realise that it is irrevocable, and that they have bartered away the +future of their lives for the paltry chance of a year's ill-gotten +gains? + +Of the severity of the punishment there can be no question. If the +premium is high at the beginning, the penalty is terrible at the close. +And this penalty is exacted equally from those who have deliberately +said, "Evil, be thou my Good," and for those who have been decoyed, +snared, trapped into the life which is a living death. When you see a +girl on the street you can never say without enquiry whether she is one +of the most-to-be condemned, or the most-to-be pitied of her sex. +Many of them find themselves where they are because of a too trusting +disposition, confidence born of innocence being often the unsuspecting +ally of the procuress and seducer. Others are as much the innocent +victims of crime as if they had been stabbed or maimed by the dagger of +the assassin. The records of our Rescue Homes abound with +life-stories, some of which we have been able to verify to the letter +--which prove only too conclusively the existence of numbers of +innocent victims whose entry upon this dismal life can in no way be +attributed to any act of their own will. Many are orphans or the +children of depraved mothers, whose one idea of a daughter is to make +money out of her prostitution. Here are a few cases on our register: -- + +E. C., aged 18, a soldier's child, born on the sea. Her father died, +and her mother, a thoroughly depraved woman, assisted to secure her +daughter's prostitution. + +P. S., aged 20, illegitimate child. Went to consult a doctor one time +about some ailment. The doctor abused his position and took advantage +of his patient, and when she complained, gave her #4 as compensation. +When that was spent, having lost her character, she came on the town. +We looked the doctor up, and he fled. + +E. A., aged 17, was left an orphan very early in life, and adopted by +her godfather, who himself was the means of her ruin at the age of 10. + +A girl in her teens lived with her mother in the "Dusthole," the lowest +part of Woolwich. This woman forced her out upon the streets, and +profited by her prostitution up to the very night of her confinement. +The mother had all the time been the receiver of the gains. + +E., neither father nor mother, was taken care of by a grandmother till, +at an early age, accounted old enough. Married a soldier; but shortly +before the birth of her first child, found that her deceiver had a wife +and family in a distant part of the country, and she was soon left +friendless and alone. She sought an asylum in the Workhouse for a few +weeks' after which she vainly tried to get honest employment. Failing +that, and being on the very verge of starvation, she entered a +lodging-house in Westminster and "did as other girls." Here our +lieutenant found and persuaded her to leave and enter one of our Homes, +where she soon gave abundant proof of her conversion by a thoroughly +changed life. She is now a faithful and trusted servant in a +clergyman's family. + +A girl was some time ago discharged from a city hospital after an +illness. She was homeless and friendless, an orphan, and obliged to +work for her living. Walking down the street and wondering what she +should do next, she met a girl, who came up to her in a most friendly +fashion and speedily won her confidence. + +"Discharged ill, and nowhere to go, are you?" said her new friend. +"Well, come home to my mother's; she will lodge you, and we'll go to +work together, when you are quite strong." + +The girl consented gladly, but found herself conducted to the very +lowest part of Woolwich and ushered into a brothel; there was no mother +in the case. She was hoaxed, and powerless to resist. +Her protestations were too late to save her, and having had her +character forced from her she became hopeless, and stayed on to live +the life of her false friend. + +There is no need for me to go into the details of the way in which men +and women, whose whole livelihood depends upon their success in +disarming the suspicions of their victims and luring them to their +doom, contrive to overcome the reluctance of the young girl without +parents, friends, or helpers to enter their toils. What fraud fails to +accomplish, a little force succeeds in effecting; and a girl who has +been guilty of nothing but imprudence finds herself an outcast for +life. The very innocence of a girl tells against her. A woman of the +world, once entrapped, would have all her wits about her to extricate +herself from the position in which she found herself. A perfectly +virtuous girl is often so overcome with shame and horror that there +seems nothing in life worth struggling for. She accepts her doom +without further struggle, and treads the long and torturing path-way of +"the streets" to the grave. + +"Judge not, that ye be not judged" is a saying that applies most +appropriately of all to these unfortunates. Many of them would have +escaped their evil fate had they been less innocent. They are where +they are because they loved too utterly to calculate consequences, and +trusted too absolutely to dare to suspect evil. And others are there +because of the false education which confounds ignorance with virtue, +and throws our young people into the midst of a great city, with all +its excitements and all its temptations, without more preparation or +warning than if they were going to live in the Garden of Eden. + +Whatever sin they have committed, a terrible penalty is exacted. +While the man who caused their ruin passes as a respectable member of +society, to whom virtuous matrons gladly marry--if he is rich-- +their maiden daughters, they are crushed beneath the millstone of +social excommunication. Here let me quote from a report made to me by +the head of our Rescue Homes as to the actual life of these +unfortunates. + +The following hundred cases are taken as they come from our Rescue +Register. The statements are those of the girls themselves. They are +certainly frank, and it will be noticed that only two out of the +hundred allege that they took to the life out of poverty: -- + + CAUSE OF FALL. + + Drink .. .. .. 14 + Seduction .. .. 33 + Wilful choice .. .. 24 + Bad company .. .. 27 + Poverty .. .. .. 2 + ---- + Total 100 + + + CONDITION WHEN APPLYING. + + Rags.. .. .. 25 + Destitution .. 27 + Decently dressed 48 + ---- + Total 100 + +Out of these girls twenty-three have been in prison. The girls suffer +so much that the shortness of their miserable life is the only +redeeming feature. Whether we look at the wretchedness of the life +itself; their perpetual intoxication; the cruel treatment to which they +are subjected by their task-masters and mistresses or bullies; the +hopelessness, suffering and despair induced by their circumstances and +surroundings; the depths of misery, degradation and poverty to which +they eventually descend; or their treatment in sickness, their +friendlessness and loneliness in death, it must be admitted that a more +dismal lot seldom falls to the fate of a human being. I will take each +of these in turn. + +HEALTH.--This life induces insanity, rheumatism, consumption, and +all forms of syphilis. Rheumatism and gout are the commonest of these +evils. Some were quite crippled by both--young though they were. +Consumption sows its seeds broadcast. The life is a hot-bed for the +development of any constitutional and hereditary germs of the disease. +We have found girls in Piccadilly at midnight who are continually +prostrated by haemorrhage, yet who have no other way of life open, so +struggle on in this awful manner between whiles. + +DRINK.--This is an inevitable part of the business. All Confess +that they could never lead their miserable lives if it were not for its +influence. + +A girl, who was educated at college, and who had a home in which was +every comfort, but who, when ruined, had fallen even to the depth of +Woolwich "Dusthole," exclaimed to us indignantly--"Do you think I +could ever, ever do this if it weren't for the drink? I always have to +be in drink if I want to sin." No girl has ever come into our Homes +front street-life but has been more or less a prey to drink. + +CRUEL TREATMENT.--The devotion of these women to their bullies is as +remarkable as the brutality of their bullies is abominable. Probably +the primary cause of the fall of numberless girls of the lower class, +is their great aspiration to the dignity of wifehood;--they are never +"somebody" until they are married, and will link themselves to any +creature, no matter how debased, in the hope of being ultimately +married by him. This consideration, in addition to their helpless +condition when once character has gone, makes them suffer cruelties +which they would never otherwise endure from the men with whom large +numbers of them live. + +One case in illustration of this is that of a girl who was once a +respectable servant, the daughter of a police sergeant. She was +ruined, and shame led her to leave home. At length she drifted to +Woolwich, where she came across a man who persuaded her to live with +him, and for a considerable length of time she kept him, although his +conduct to her was brutal in the extreme. + +The girl living in the next room to her has frequently heard him knock +her head against the wall, and pound it, when he was out of temper, +through her gains of prostitution being less than usual. He lavished +upon her every sort of cruelty and abuse, and at length she grew so +wretched, and was reduced to so dreadful a plight, that she ceased to +attract. At this he became furious, and pawned all her clothing but +one thin garment of rags. The week before her first confinement he +kicked her black and blue from neck to knees, and she was carried to +the police station in a pool of blood, but; she was so loyal to the +wretch that she refused to appear against him. + +She was going to drown herself in desperation, when our Rescue Officers +spoke to her, wrapped their own shawl around her shivering shoulders, +took her home with them, and cared for her. The baby was born dead-- +a tiny, shapeless mass. This state of things is all too common. + +HOPELESSNESS--SURROUNDINGS.--The state of hopelessness and despair +in which these girls live continually, makes them reckless of +consequences, and large numbers commit suicide who are never heard of. +A West End policeman assured us that the number of prostitute-suicides +was terribly in advance of anything guessed at by the public. + +DEPTHS TO WHICH THEY SINK.--There is Scarcely a lower class of girls +to be found than the girls of Woolwich "Dusthole"--where one of our +Rescue Slum Homes is established. The women living and following their +dreadful business in this neighbourhood are so degraded that even +abandoned men will refuse to accompany them home. Soldiers are +forbidden to enter the place, or to go down the street, on pain of +twenty-five days' imprisonment; pickets are stationed at either end to +prevent this. The streets are much cleaner than many of the rooms we +have seen. + +One public house there is shut up three or four times in a day +sometimes for fear of losing the licence through the terrible brawls +which take place within. A policeman never goes down this street alone +at night--one having died not long ago from injuries received there +--but our two lasses go unharmed and loved at all hours, spending +every other night always upon the streets. + +The girls sink to the "Dusthole" after coming down several grades. +There is but one on record who came there with beautiful clothes, and +this poor girl, when last seen by the officers, was a pauper in the +workhouse infirmary in a wretched condition. The lowest class of all +is the girls who stand at the pier-head--these sell themselves +literally for a bare crust of bread and sleep in the streets. Filth +and vermin abound to an extent to which no one who has not seen it can +have any idea. The "Dusthole" is only one, alas of many similar +districts in this highly civilised land. + +SICKNESS, FRIENDLESSNESS--DEATH.--In hospitals it is a known fact +that these girls are not treated at all like other cases; they inspire +disgust, and are most frequently discharged before being really cured. +Scorned by their relations, and ashamed to make their case known even +to those who would help them, unable longer to struggle out on the +streets to earn the bread of shame, there are girls lying in many a +dark hole in this big city positively rotting away, and maintained by +their old companions on the streets. Many are totally friendless, +utterly cast out and left to perish by relatives and friends. One of +this class came to us, sickened and died, and we buried her, being her +only followers to the grave. + +It is a sad story, but one that must not be forgotten, for these women +constitute a large standing army whose numbers no one can calculate. +All estimates that I have seem purely imaginary. The ordinary figure +given for London is from 60,000 to 80,000. This maybe true if it is +meant to include all habitually unchaste women. It is a monstrous +exaggeration if it is meant to apply to those who make their living +solely and habitually by prostitution. These figures, however, only +confuse. We shall have to deal with hundreds every month, whatever +estimate we take. How utterly unprepared society is for any such +systematic reformation may be seen from the fact that even now at our +Homes we are unable to take in all the girls who apply. They cannot +escape, even if they would, for want of funds whereby to provide them a +way of release. + + +CHAPTER 7. THE CRIMINALS. + +One very important section of the denizens of Darkest England are the +criminals and the semi-criminals. They are more or less predatory, +and are at present shepherded by the police and punished by the gaoler. +Their numbers cannot be ascertained with very great precision, but the +following figures are taken from the prison returns of 1889: -- + +The criminal classes of Great Britain, in round figures, sum up a total +of no less than 90,000 persons, made up as follows: -- + + Convict prisons contain.. .. .. .. .. .. 11,660 persons + Local prisons contain.. .. .. .. .. .. 20,883 ,, + Reformatories for children convicted of crime .. 1,270 ,, + Industrial schools for vagrant + and refractory children .. .. .. .. .. 21,413 ,, + Criminal lunatics under restraint.. .. .. .. 910 ,, + Known thieves at large .. .. .. .. .. .. 14,747 ,, + Known receivers of stolen goods .. .. .. .. 1,121 ,, + Suspected persons .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 17,042 ,, + ------- + Total 89,046 + ------- + +The above does not include the great army of known prostitutes, nor the +keepers and owners of brothels and disorderly houses, as to whose +numbers Government is rigidly silent. These figures are, however, +misleading. They only represent the criminals actually in gaol on a +given day. The average gaol population in England and Wales, excluding +the convict establishments, was, in 1889, 15,119 but the total number +actually sentenced and imprisoned in local prisons was 153,000, of whom +25,000 only came on first term sentences; 76,300 of them had been +convicted at least 10 times. But even if we suppose that the criminal +class numbers no more than 90,000, of whom only 35,000 persons are at +large, it is still a large enough section of humanity to compel +attention. 90,000 criminals represents a wreckage whose cost to the +community is very imperfectly estimated when we add up the cost of the +prisons, even if we add to them the whole cost of the police. +The police have so many other duties besides the shepherding of +criminals that it is unfair to saddle the latter with the whole of the +cost of the constabulary. The cost of prosecution and maintenance of +criminals, and the expense of the police involves an annual outlay of +#4,437,000. This, however, is small compared with the tax and toll +which this predatory horde inflicts upon the community on which it is +quartered. To the loss caused by the actual picking and stealing must +be added that of the unproductive labour of nearly 65,000 adults. +Dependent upon these criminal adults must be at least twice as many +women and children, so that it is probably an under-estimate to say +that this list of criminals and semi-criminals represents a population +of at least 200,000, who all live more or less at the expense of +society. + +Every year, in the Metropolitan district alone, 66,100 persons are +arrested, of whom 444 are arrested for trying to commit suicide--life +having become too unbearable a burden. This immense population is +partially, no doubt, bred to prison, the same as other people are bred +to the army and to the bar. The hereditary criminal is by no means +confined to India, although it is only in that country that they have +the engaging simplicity to describe themselves frankly in the census +returns. But it is recruited constantly from the outside. In many +cases this is due to sheer starvation. Fathers of the Church have laid +down the law that a man who is in peril of death from hunger is +entitled to take bread wherever he can find it to keep body and soul +together. That proposition is not embodied in our jurisprudence. +Absolute despair drives many a man into the ranks of the criminal +class, who would never have fallen into the category of criminal +convicts if adequate provision had been made for the rescue of those +drifting to doom. When once he has fallen, circumstances seem to +combine to keep him there. As wounded and sickly stags are gored to +death by their fellows, so the unfortunate who bears the prison brand +is hunted from pillar to post, until he despairs of ever regaining his +position, and oscillates between one prison and another for the rest of +his days. I gave in a preceding page an account of how a man, after +trying in vain to get work, fell before the temptation to steal in +order to escape starvation. Here is the sequel of that man's story. +After he had stolen he ran away, and thus describes his experiences: -- + +"To fly was easy. To get away from the scene required very little +ingenuity, but the getting away from one suffering brought another. +A straight look from a stranger; a quick step behind me, sent a chill +through every nerve. The cravings of hunger had been satisfied, but it +was the cravings of conscience that were clamorous now. It was easy to +get away from the earthly consequences of sin, but from the fact-- +never. And yet it was the compulsion of circumstances that made me a +criminal. It was neither from inward viciousness or choice, and how +bitterly did I cast reproach on society for allowing such an +alternative to offer itself--'to Steal or Starve,' but there was +another alternative that here offered itself--either give myself up, +or go on with the life of crime. I chose the former. I had travelled +over 100 miles to get away from the scene of my theft, and I now find +myself outside the station house at a place where I had put in my +boyhood days. + +"How many times when a lad, with wondering eyes, and a heart stirred +with childhood's pure sympathy, I had watched the poor waifs from time +to time led within its doors. It was my turn now. I entered the +charge room, and with business-like precision disclosed my errand, viz. +that I wished to surrender myself for having committed a felony. +My story was doubted. Question followed question, and confirmation +must be waited. 'Why had I surrendered?' 'I was a rum'un.' 'Cracked.' +'More fool than rogue.' 'He will be sorry when he mounts the wheel.' +These and such like remarks were handed round concerning me. An hour +passed by. An inspector enters, and announces the receipt of a +telegram. 'It is all right. You can put him down.' And turning to me, +he said, 'They will send for you on Monday,' and then I passed into +the inner ward, and a cell. The door closed with a harsh, grating +clang, and I was left to face the most clamorous accuser of all-- +my own interior self' + +"Monday morning, the door opened, and a complacent detective stood +before me. Who can tell the feeling as the handcuffs closed round my +wrists, and we started for town. As again the charge was entered, and +the passing of another night in the cell; then the morning of the day +arrived. The gruff, harsh 'Come on' of the gaoler roused me, and the +next moment I found myself in the prison van, gazing through the +crevices of the floor, watching the stones flying as it were from +beneath our feet. Soon the court-house was reached, and hustled into a +common cell, I found myself amongst a crowd of boys and men, all bound +for the 'dock.' One by one the names are called, and the crowd is +gradually thinning down, when the announcement of my own name fell on +my startled ear, and I found myself stumbling up the stairs, and +finding myself in daylight and the 'dock.' What a terrible ordeal it +was. The ceremony was brief enough; 'Have you anything to say?' +'Don't interrupt his Worship; prisoner!' 'Give over talking!' +'A month's hard labour.' This is about all I heard, or at any rate +realised, until a vigorous push landed me into the presence of the +officer who booked the sentence, and then off I went to gaol. +I need not linger over the formalities of the reception. A nightmare +seemed to have settled upon me as I passed into the interior of the +correctional. + +"I resigned my name, and I seemed to die to myself for henceforth. +332B disclosed my identity to myself and others. + +"Through all the weeks that followed I was like one in a dream. +Meal times, resting hours, as did every other thing, came with +clock-like precision. At times I thought my mind had gone--so dull, +so callous, so weary appeared the organs of the brain. The harsh +orders of the gaolers; the droning of the chaplain in the chapel; +the enquiries of the chief warder or the governor in their periodical +visits,--all seemed so meaningless. + +"As the day of my liberation drew near, the horrid conviction that +circumstances would perhaps compel me to return to prison haunted me, +and so helpless did I feel at the prospects that awaited me outside, +that I dreaded release, which seemed but the facing of an unsympathetic +world. The day arrived, and, strange as it may sound, it was with +regret that I left my cell. It had become my home, and no home waited +me outside. + +"How utterly crushed I felt; feelings of companionship had gone out to +my unfortunate fellow-prisoners, whom I had seen daily, but the sound +of whose voices I had never heard, whilst outside friendships were +dead, and companionships were for ever broken, and I felt as an outcast +of society, with the mark of 'gaol bird' upon me, that I must cover my +face, and stand aside and cry 'unclean.' Such were my feelings. + +"The morning of discharge came, and I am once more on the streets. +My scanty means scarcely sufficient for two days' least needs. Could I +brace myself to make another honest endeavour to start afresh? +Try, indeed, I did. I fell back upon my antecedents, and tried to cut +the dark passage out of my life, but straight came the questions to me +at each application for employment, 'What have you been doing lately?' +'Where have you been living?' If I evaded the question it caused doubt; +if I answered, the only answer I could give was 'in gaol,' and that +settled my chances. + +"What a comedy, after all, it appeared. I remember the last words of +the chaplain before leaving the prison, cold and precise in their +officialism: 'Mind you never come back here again, young man.' And now, +as though in response to my earnest effort to keep from going to +prison, society, by its actions, cried out, 'Go back to gaol. There +are honest men enough to do our work without such as you.' "Imagine, +if you can, my condition. At the end of a few days, black despair had +wrapt itself around every faculty of mind and body. Then followed +several days and nights with scarcely a bit of food or a resting-place. +I prowled the streets like a dog, with this difference, that the dog +has the chance of helping himself, and I had not. I tried to forecast +how long starvation's fingers would be in closing round the throat they +already gripped. So indifferent was I alike to man or God, as I waited +for the end." + +In this dire extremity the writer found his way to one of our Shelters, +and there found God and friends and hope, and once more got his feet on +to the ladder which leads upward from the black gulf of starvation to +competence and character, and usefulness and heaven. + +As he was then, however, there are hundreds--nay, thousands--now. +Who will give these men a helping hand? What is to be done with them? +Would it not be more merciful to kill them off at once instead of +sternly crushing them out of all semblance of honest manhood? +Society recoils from such a short cut. Her virtuous scruples reminds +me of the subterfuge by which English law evaded the veto on torture. +Torture was forbidden, but the custom of placing an obstinate witness +under a press and slowly crushing him within a hairbreadth of death was +legalised and practised. So it is to-day. When the criminal comes out +of gaol the whole world is often but a press whose punishment is sharp +and cruel indeed. Nor can the victim escape even if he opens his mouth +and speaks. + + +CHAPTER 8. THE CHILDREN OF THE LOST. + +Whatever may be thought of the possibility of doing anything with the +adults, it is universally admitted that there is hope for the children. +"I regard the existing generation as lost," said a leading Liberal +statesman. "Nothing can be done with men and women who have grown up +under the present demoralising conditions. My only hope is that the +children may have a better chance. Education will do much." +But unfortunately the demoralising circumstances of the children are +not being improved--are, indeed, rather, in many respects, being +made worse. The deterioration of our population in large towns is one +of the most undisputed facts of social economics. The country is the +breeding ground of healthy citizens. But for the constant influx of +Countrydom, Cockneydom would long ere this have perished. +But unfortunately the country is being depopulated. The towns, London +especially, are being gorged with undigested and indigestible masses of +labour, and, as the result, the children suffer grievously. + +The town-bred child is at a thousand disadvantages compared with his +cousin in the country. But every year there are more town-bred +children and fewer cousins in the country. To rear healthy children +you want first a home; secondly, milk; thirdly, fresh air; +and fourthly, exercise under the green trees and blue sky. All these +things every country labourer's child possesses, or used to possess. +For the shadow of the City life lies now upon the fields, and even in +the remotest rural district the labourer who tends the cows is often +denied the milk which his children need. The regular demand of the +great towns forestalls the claims of the labouring hind. Tea and slops +and beer take the place of milk, and the bone and sinew of the next +generation are sapped from the cradle. But the country child, if he +has nothing but skim milk, and only a little of that, has at least +plenty of exercise in the fresh air. He has healthy human relations +with his neighbours. He is looked after, and in some sort of fashion +brought into contact with the life of the hall, the vicarage, and the +farm. He lives a natural life amid the birds and trees and growing +crops and the animals of the fields. He is not a mere human ant, +crawling on the granite pavement of a great urban ants' nest, with an +unnaturally developed nervous system and a sickly constitution. + +But, it will be said, the child of to-day has the inestimable advantage +of Education. No; he has not. Educated the children are not. +They are pressed through "standards," which exact a certain +acquaintance with A B C and pothooks and figures, but educated they are +not in the sense of the development of their latent capacities so as to +make them capable for the discharge of their duties in life. +The new generation can read, no doubt. Otherwise, where would be the +sale of "Sixteen String Jack," "Dick Turpin," and the like? But take +the girls. Who can pretend that the girls whom our schools are now +turning out are half as well educated for the work of life as their +grandmothers were at the same age? How many of all these mothers of +the future know how to bake a loaf or wash their clothes? Except +minding the baby--a task that cannot be evaded--what domestic +training have they received to qualify them for being in the future the +mothers of babies themselves? + +And even the schooling, such as it is, at what an expense is it often +imparted! The rakings of the human cesspool are brought into the +school-room and mixed up with your children. Your little ones, who +never heard a foul word and who are not only innocent, but ignorant, of +all the horrors of vice and sin, sit for hours side by side with little +ones whose parents are habitually drunk, and play with others whose +ideas of merriment are gained from the familiar spectacle of the +nightly debauch by which their mothers earn the family bread. +It is good, no doubt, to learn the ABC, but it is not so good that in +acquiring these indispensable rudiments, your children should also +acquire the vocabulary of the harlot and the corner boy. I speak only +of what I know, and of that which has been brought home to me as a +matter of repeated complaint by my Officers, when I say that the +obscenity of the talk of many of the children of some of our public +schools could hardly be outdone even in Sodom and Gomorrha. Childish +innocence is very beautiful; but the bloom is soon destroyed, and it is +a cruel awakening for a mother to discover that her tenderly nurtured +boy, or her carefully guarded daughter, has been initiated by a +companion into the mysteries of abomination that are concealed in the +phrase--a house of ill-fame. + +The home is largely destroyed where the mother follows the father into +the factory, and where the hours of labour are so long that they have +no time to see their children. The omnibus drivers of London, for +instance, what time have they for discharging the daily duties of +parentage to their little ones? How can a man who is on his omnibus +from fourteen to sixteen hours a day have time to be a father to his +children in any sense of the word? He has hardly a chance to see them +except when they are asleep. Even the Sabbath, that blessed +institution which is one of the sheet anchors of human existence, is +encroached upon. Many of the new industries which have been started or +developed since I was a boy ignore man's need of one day's rest in +seven. The railway, the post-office, the tramway all compel some of +their employes to be content with less than the divinely appointed +minimum of leisure. In the country darkness restores the labouring +father to his little ones. In the town gas and the electric light +enables the employer to rob the children of the whole of their father's +waking hours, and in some cases he takes the mother's also. Under some +of the conditions of modern industry, children are not so much born +into a home as they are spawned into the world like fish, with the +results which we see. + +The decline of natural affection follows inevitably from the +substitution of the fish relationship for that of the human. A father +who never dandles his child on his knee cannot have a very keen sense +of the responsibilities of paternity. In the rush and pressure of our +competitive City life, thousands of men have not time to be fathers. +Sires, yes; fathers, no. It will take a good deal of schoolmaster to +make up for that change. If this be the case, even with the children +constantly employed, it can be imagined what kind of a home life is +possessed by the children of the tramp, the odd jobber, the thief, and +the harlot. For all these people have children, although they have no +homes in which to rear them. Not a bird in all the woods or fields but +prepares some kind of a nest in which to hatch and rear its young, even +if it be but a hole in the sand or a few crossed sticks in the bush. +But how many young ones amongst our people are hatched before any nest +is ready to receive them? + +Think of the multitudes of children born in our workhouses, children of +whom it may be said "they are conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity," +and, as a punishment of the sins of the parents, branded from birth as +bastards, worse than fatherless, homeless, and friendless, "damned into +an evil world," in which even those who have all the advantages of a +good parentage and a careful training find it hard enough to make their +way. Sometimes, it is true, the passionate love of the deserted mother +for the child which has been the visible symbol and the terrible result +of her undoing stands between the little one and all its enemies. +But think how often the mother regards the advent of her child with +loathing and horror; how the discovery that she is about to become a +mother affects her like a nightmare; and how nothing but the dread of +the hangman's rope keeps her from strangling the babe on the very hour +of its birth. What chances has such a child? And there are many such. + +In a certain country that I will not name there exists a scientifically +arranged system of infanticide cloaked under the garb of philanthropy. +Gigantic foundling establishments exist in its principal cities, where +every comfort and scientific improvement is provided for the deserted +children, with the result that one-half of them die. The mothers are +spared the crime. The State assumes the responsibility. +We do something like that here, but our foundling asylums are the +Street, the Workhouse, and the Grave. When an English Judge tells us, +as Mr. Justice Wills did the other day, that there were any number of +parents who would kill their children for a few pounds' insurance +money, we can form some idea of the horrors of the existence into which +many of the children of this highly favoured land are ushered at their +birth. + +The overcrowded homes of the poor compel the children to witness +everything. Sexual morality often comes to have no meaning to them. +Incest is so familiar as hardly to call for remark. The bitter poverty +of the poor compels them to leave their children half fed. There are +few more grotesque pictures in the history of civilisation than that of +the compulsory attendance of children at school, faint with hunger +because they had no breakfast, and not sure whether they would even +secure a dry crust for dinner when their morning's quantum of education +had been duly imparted. Children thus hungered, thus housed, and thus +left to grow up as best they can without being fathered or mothered, +are not, educate them as you will, exactly the most promising material +for the making of the future citizens and rulers of the Empire. + +What, then, is the ground for hope that if we leave things alone the +new generation will be better than their elders? To me it seems that +the truth is rather the other way. The lawlessness of our lads the +increased license of our girls, the general shiftlessness from the +home-making point of view of the product of our factories and schools +are far from reassuring. Our young people have never learned to obey. +The fighting gangs of half-grown lads in Lisson Grove, and the +scuttlers of Manchester are ugly symptoms of a social condition that +will not grow better by being left alone. + +It is the home that has been destroyed, and with the home the home-like +virtues. It is the dis-homed multitude, nomadic, hungry that is +rearing an undisciplined population, cursed from birth with hereditary +weakness of body and hereditary faults of character. It is idle to +hope to mend matters by taking the children and bundling them up in +barracks. A child brought up in an institution is too often only +half-human, having never known a mother's love and a father's care. +To men and women who are without homes children must be more or less of +an incumbrance. Their advent is regarded with impatience, and often it +is averted by crime. The unwelcome little stranger is badly cared for, +badly fed, and allowed every chance to die. Nothing is worth doing to +increase his chances of living that does not Reconstitute the Home. +But between us and that ideal how vast is the gulf! It will have to be +bridged, however, if anything practical is to be done. + + +CHAPTER 9. IS THERE NO HELP? + +It may be said by those who have followed me to this point that while +it is quite true that there are many who are out of work, and not less +true that there are many who sleep on the Embankment and elsewhere, the +law has provided a remedy, or if not a remedy, at least a method, of +dealing with these sufferers which is sufficient: The Secretary of the +Charity Organisation Society assured one of my Officers, who went to +inquire for his opinion on the subject, "that no further machinery was +necessary. All that was needed in this direction they already had in +working order, and to create any further machinery would do more harm +than good." + +Now, what is the existing machinery by which Society, whether through +the organisation of the State, or by individual endeavour, attempts to +deal with the submerged residuum? I had intended at one time to have +devoted considerable space to the description of the existing agencies, +together with certain observations which have been forcibly impressed +upon my mind as to their failure and its cause. The necessity, +however, of subordinating everything to the supreme purpose of this +book, which is to endeavour to show how light can be let into the heart +of Darkest England, compels me to pass rapidly over this department of +the subject, merely glancing as I go at the well-meaning, but more or +less abortive, attempts to cope with this great and appalling evil. + +The first place must naturally be given to the administration of the +Poor Law. Legally the State accepts the responsibility of providing +food and shelter for every man, woman, or child who is utterly +destitute. This responsibility it, however, practically shirks by the +imposition of conditions on the claimants of relief that are hateful +and repulsive, if not impossible. As to the method of Poor Law +administration in dealing with inmates of workhouses or in the +distribution of outdoor relief, I say nothing. Both of these raise +great questions which lie outside my immediate purpose. All that I +need to do is to indicate the limitations--it may be the necessary +limitations--under which the Poor Law operates. No Englishman can +come upon the rates so long as he has anything whatever left to call +his own. When long-continued destitution has been carried on to the +bitter end, when piece by piece every article of domestic furniture +has been sold or pawned, when all efforts to procure employment have +failed, and when you have nothing left except the clothes in which you +stand, then you can present yourself before the relieving officer and +secure your lodging in the workhouse, the administration of which +varies infinitely according to the disposition of the Board of +Guardians under whose control it happens to be. + +If, however, you have not sunk to such despair as to be willing to +barter your liberty for the sake of food, clothing, and shelter in the +Workhouse, but are only temporarily out of employment seeking work, +then you go to the Casual Ward. There you are taken in, and provided +for on the principle of making it as disagreeable as possible for +yourself, in order to deter you from again accepting the hospitality of +the rates,--and of course in defence of this a good deal can be said +by the Political Economist. But what seems utterly indefensible is the +careful precautions which are taken to render it impossible for the +unemployed Casual to resume promptly after his night's rest the search +for work. Under the existing regulations, if you are compelled to seek +refuge on Monday night in the Casual Ward, you are bound to remain +there at least till Wednesday morning. + +The theory of the system is this, that individuals casually poor and +out of work, being destitute and without shelter, may upon application +receive shelter for the night, supper and a breakfast, and in return +for this, shall perform a task of work, not necessarily in repayment +for the relief received, but simply as a test of their willingness to +work for their living. The work given is the same as that given to +felons in gaol, oakum-picking and stone-breaking. + +The work, too, is excessive in proportion to what is received. +Four pounds of oakum is a great task to an expert and an old hand. +To a novice it can only be accomplished with the greatest difficulty, +if indeed it can be done at all. It is even in excess of the amount +demanded from a criminal in gaol. + +The stone-breaking test is monstrous. Half a ton of stone from any man +in return for partially supplying the cravings of hunger is an outrage +which, if we read of as having occurred in Russia or Siberia, would +find Exeter Hall crowded with an indignant audience, and Hyde Park +filled with strong oratory. But because this system exists at our own +doors, very little notice is taken of it. These tasks are expected +from all comers, starved, ill-clad, half-fed creatures from the +streets, foot-sore and worn out, and yet unless it is done, the +alternative is the magistrate and the gaol. The old system was bad +enough, which demanded the picking of one pound of oakum. As soon as +this task was accomplished, which generally kept them till the middle +of next day, it was thus rendered impossible for them to seek work, and +they were forced to spend another night in the ward. The Local +Government Board, however, stepped in, and the Casual was ordered to be +detained for the whole day and the second night, the amount of labour +required from him being increased four-fold. + +Under the present system, therefore, the penalty for seeking shelter +from the streets is a whole day and two nights, with an almost +impossible task, which, failing to do, the victim is liable to be +dragged before a magistrate and committed to gaol as a rogue and +vagabond, while in the Casual Ward their treatment is practically that +of a criminal. They sleep in a cell with an apartment at the back, +in which the work is done, receiving at night half a pound of gruel and +eight ounces of bread, and next morning the same for breakfast, with +half a pound of oakum and stones to occupy himself for a day. + +The beds are mostly of the plank type, the coverings scant, the comfort +nil. Be it remembered that this is the treatment meted out to those +who are supposed to be Casual poor, in temporary difficulty, walking +from place to place seeking some employment. + +The treatment of the women is as follows: Each Casual has to stay in +the Casual Wards two nights and one day, during which time they have to +pick 2 lb. of oakum or go to the wash-tub and work out the time there. +While at the wash-tub they are allowed to wash their own clothes, but +not otherwise. If seen more than once in the same Casual Ward, they +are detained three days by order of the inspector each time seen, or if +sleeping twice in the same month the master of the ward has power to +detain them three days. There are four inspectors who visit different +Casual Wards; and if the Casual is seen by any of the inspectors +(who in turn visit all the Casual Wards) at any of the wards they have +previously visited they are detained three days in each one. +The inspector, who is a male person, visits the wards at all unexpected +hours, even visiting while the females are in bed. The beds are in +some wards composed of straw and two rugs, in others cocoanut fibre and +two rugs. The Casuals rise at 5.45 a.m. and go to bed 7 p.m. If they +do not finish picking their oakum before 7 p.m., they stay up till they +do. If a Casual does not come to the ward before 12.30, midnight, they +keep them one day extra. The way in which this operates, however, can +be best understood by the following statements, made by those who have +been in Casual Wards, and who can, therefore, speak from experience as +to how the system affects the individual: -- + +J. C. knows Casual Wards pretty well. Has been in St. Giles, +Whitechapel, St. George's, Paddington, Marylebone, Mile End. +They vary a little in detail, but as a rule the doors open at 6; +you walk in; they tell you what the work is, and that if you fail to do +it, you will be liable to imprisonment. Then you bathe. Some places +the water is dirty. Three persons as a rule wash in one water. +At Whitechapel (been there three times) it has always been dirty; also +at St. George's. I had no bath at Mile End; they were short of water. +If you complain they take no notice. You then tie your clothes in a +bundle, and they give you a nightshirt. At most places they serve +supper to the men, who have to go to bed and eat it there. Some beds +are in cells; some in large rooms. You get up at 6 a.m. and do the +task. The amount of stone-breaking is too much; and the oakum-picking +is also heavy. The food differs. At St. Giles, the gruel left +over-night is boiled up for breakfast, and is consequently sour; the +bread is puffy, full of holes, and don't weigh the regulation amount. +Dinner is only 8 ounces of bread and 1 1/2 ounce of cheese, and its +that's short, how can anybody do their work? They will give you water +to drink if you ring the cell bell for it, that is, they will tell you +to wait, and bring it in about half an hour. There are a good lot of +"moochers" go to Casual Wards, but there are large numbers of men who +only want work. + +J.D.; age 25; Londoner; can't get work, tried hard; been refused work +several times on account of having no settled residence; looks +suspicious, they think, to have "no home." Seems a decent, willing man. +Had two penny-worth of soup this morning, which has lasted all day. +Earned 1s. 6d. yesterday, bill distributing, nothing the day before. +Been in good many London Casual Wards. Thinks they are no good, +because they keep him all day, when he might be seeking work. +Don't want shelter in day time, wants work. If he goes in twice in a +month to the same Casual Ward, they detain him four days. Considers +the food decidedly insufficient to do the required amount of work. +If the work is not done to time, you are liable to 21 days' +imprisonment. Get badly treated some places, especially where there is +a bullying superintendent. Has done 21 days for absolutely refusing to +do the work on such low diet, when unfit. Can't get justice, doctor +always sides with superintendent. + +J. S.; odd jobber. Is working at board carrying, when he can get it. +There's quite a rush for it at 1s. 2d. a day. Carried a couple of +parcels yesterday, got 5d. for them; also had a bit of bread and meat +given him by a working man, so altogether had an excellent day. +Sometimes goes all day without food, and plenty more do the same. +Sleeps on Embankment, and now and then in Casual Ward. Latter is clean +and comfortable enough, but they keep you in all day; that means no +chance of getting work. Was a clerk once, but got out of a job, and +couldn't get another; there are so many clerks. + +"A Tramp" says: "I've been in most Casual Wards in London; was in the +one in Macklin Street, Drury Lane, last week. They keep you two nights +and a day, and more than that if they recognise you. You have to break +10 cwt. of stone, or pick four pounds of oakum. Both are hard. +About thirty a night go to Macklin Street. The food is 1 pint gruel +and 6 oz. bread for breakfast; 8 oz. bread and 1 1/2 oz. cheese for +dinner; tea same as breakfast. No supper. It is not enough to do the +work on. Then you are obliged to bathe, of course; sometimes three +will bathe in one water, and if you complain they turn nasty, and ask +if you are come to a palace. Mitcham Workhouse I've been in; grub is +good; 1 1/2 pint gruel and 8 oz. bread for breakfast, and same for +supper. + +F.K. W.; baker. Been board-carrying to-day, earned one shilling, +Hours 9 till 5. I've been on this kind of life six years. Used to +work in a bakery, but had congestion of the brain, and couldn't stand +the heat. I've been in about every Casual Ward in England. They treat +men too harshly. Have to work very hard, too. Has had to work whilst +really unfit. At Peckham (known as Camberwell) Union, was quite unable +to do it through weakness, and appealed to the doctor, who, taking the +part of the other officials, as usual, refused to allow him to forego +the work. Cheeked the doctor, telling him he didn't understand his +work; result, got three days' imprisonment. Before going to a Casual +Ward at all, I spent seven consecutive nights on the Embankment, and at +last went to the Ward. + +The result of the deliberate policy of making the night refuge for the +unemployed labourer as disagreeable as possible, and of placing as many +obstacles as possible in the way of his finding work the following day, +is, no doubt, to minimise the number of Casuals, and without question +succeeds. In the whole of London the number of Casuals in the wards at +night is only 1,136. That is to say, the conditions which are imposed +are so severe, that the majority of the Out-of-Works prefer to sleep in +the open air, taking their chance of the inclemency and mutability of +our English weather, rather than go through the experience of the +Casual Ward. + +It seems to me that such a mode of coping with distress does not so +much meet the difficulty as evade it. It is obvious that an apparatus, +which only provides for 1,136 persons per night, is utterly unable to +deal with the numbers of the homeless Out-of-Works. But if by some +miracle we could use the Casual Wards as a means of providing for all +those who are seeking work from day to day, without a place in which to +lay their heads, save the kerbstone of the pavement or the back of a +seat on the Embankment, they would utterly fail to have any appreciable +effect upon the mass of human misery with which we have to deal. +For this reason; the administration of the Casual Wards is mechanical, +perfunctory, and formal. Each of the Casuals is to the Officer in +Charge merely one Casual the more. There is no attempt whatever to do +more than provide for them merely the indispensable requisites of +existence. There has never been any attempt to treat them as human +beings, to deal with them as individuals, to appeal to their hearts, +to help them on their legs again. They are simply units, no more +thought of and cared for than if they were so many coffee beans passing +through a coffee mill; and as the net result of all my experience and +observation of men and things, I must assert unhesitatingly that +anything which dehumanises the individual, anything which treats a man +as if he were only a number of a series or a cog in a wheel, without +any regard to the character, the aspirations, the temptations, and the +idiosyncrasies of the man, must utterly fail as a remedial agency. +The Casual Ward, at the best, is merely a squalid resting place for the +Casual in his downward career. It anything is to be done for these +men, it must be done by other agents than those which prevail in the +administration of the Poor Laws. + +The second method in which Society endeavours to do its duty to the +lapsed masses is by the miscellaneous and heterogeneous efforts which +are clubbed together under the generic head of Charity. Far be it from +me to say one word in disparagement of any effort that is prompted by a +sincere desire to alleviate the misery of our fellow creatures, but the +most charitable are those who most deplore the utter failure which has, +up till now, attended all their efforts to do more than temporarily +alleviate pain, or effect an occasional improvement in the condition of +individuals. + +There are many institutions, very excellent in their way, without which +it is difficult to see how society could get on at all, but when they +have done their best there still remains this great and appalling mass +of human misery on our hands, a perfect quagmire of Human Sludge. +They may ladle out individuals here and there, but to drain the whole +bog is an effort which seems to be beyond the imagination of most of +those who spend their lives in philanthropic work. It is no doubt +better than nothing to take the individual and feed him from day to +day, to bandage up his wounds and heal his diseases; but you may go on +doing that for ever, if you do not do more than that; and the worst of +it is that all authorities agree that if you only do that you will +probably increase the evil with which you are attempting to deal, and +that you had much better let the whole thing alone. + +There is at present no attempt at Concerted Action. Each one deals +with the case immediately before him, and the result is what might be +expected; there is a great expenditure, but the gains are, alas! very +small. The fact, however, that so much is subscribed for the temporary +relief and the mere alleviation of distress justifies my confidence +that if a Practical Scheme of dealing with this misery in a permanent, +comprehensive fashion be discovered, there will be no lack of the +sinews of war. It is well, no doubt, sometimes to administer an +anaesthetic, but the Cure of the Patient is worth ever so much more, +and the latter is the object which we must constantly set before us in +approaching this problem. + +The third method by which Society professes to attempt the reclamation +of the lost is by the rough, rude surgery of the Gaol. Upon this a +whole treatise might be written, but when it was finished it would be +nothing more than a demonstration that our Prison system has +practically missed aiming at that which should be the first essential +of every system of punishment. It is not Reformatory, it is not worked +as if it were intended to be Reformatory. It is punitive, and only +punitive. The whole administration needs to be reformed from top to +bottom in accordance with this fundamental principle, viz., that while +every prisoner should be subjected to that measure of punishment which +shall mark a due sense of his crime both to himself and society, the +main object should be to rouse in his mind the desire to lead an honest +life; and to effect that change in his disposition and character which +will send him forth to put that desire into practice. At present, +every Prison is more or less a Training School for Crime, +an introduction to the society of criminals, the petrifaction of any +lingering human feeling and a very Bastille of Despair. The prison +brand is stamped upon those who go in, and that so deeply, that it +seems as if it clung to them for life. To enter Prison once, means in +many cases an almost certain return there at an early date. All this +has to be changed, and will be, when once the work of Prison Reform is +taken in hand by men who understand the subject, who believe in the +reformation of human nature in every form which its depravity can +assume, and who are in full sympathy with the class for whose benefit +they labour; and when those charged directly with the care of criminals +seek to work out their regeneration in the same spirit. + +The question of Prison Reform is all the more important because it is +only by the agency of the Gaol that Society attempts to deal with its +hopeless cases. If a woman, driven mad with shame, flings herself into +the river, and is fished out alive, we clap her into Prison on a charge +of attempted suicide. If a man, despairing of work and gaunt with +hunger, helps himself to food, it is to the same reformatory agency +that he is forthwith subjected. The rough and ready surgery with which +we deal with our social patients recalls the simple method of the early +physicians. The tradition still lingers among old people of doctors +who prescribed bleeding for every ailment, and of keepers of asylums +whose one idea of ministering to a mind diseased was to put the body +into a strait waistcoat. Modern science laughs to scorn these simple +"remedies" of an unscientific age, and declares that they were, in most +cases, the most efficacious means of aggravating the disease they +professed to cure. But in social maladies we are still in the age of +the blood-letter and the strait waistcoat. The Gaol is our specific +for Despair. When all else fails Society will always undertake to +feed, clothe, warm, and house a man, if only he will commit a crime. +It will do it also in such a fashion as to render it no temporary help, +but a permanent necessity. + +Society says to the individual: "To qualify for free board and lodging +you must commit a crime. But if you do you must pay the price. +You must allow me to ruin your character, and doom you for the rest of +your life to destitution, modified by the occasional successes of +criminality. You shall become the Child of the State, on condition +that we doom you to a temporal perdition, out of which you will never +be permitted to escape, and in which you will always be a charge upon +our resources and a constant source of anxiety and inconvenience to the +authorities. I will feed you, certainly, but in return you must permit +me to damn you." That surely ought not to be the last word of Civilised +Society. + +"Certainly not," say others. "Emigration is the true specific. +The waste lands of the world are crying aloud for the application of +surplus labour. Emigration is the panacea." Now I have no objection to +emigration. Only a criminal lunatic could seriously object to the +transference of hungry Jack from an overcrowded shanty--where he +cannot even obtain enough bad potatoes to dull the ache behind his +waistcoat, and is tempted to let his child die for the sake of the +insurance money--to a land flowing with milk and honey, where he can +eat meat three times a day and where a man's children are his wealth. +But you might as well lay a new-born child naked in the middle of a +new-sown field in March, and expect it to live and thrive, as expect +emigration to produce successful results on the lines which some lay +down. The child, no doubt, has within it latent capacities which, when +years and training have done their work, will enable him to reap a +harvest from a fertile soil, and the new sown field will be covered +with golden grain in August. But these facts will not enable the +infant to still its hunger with the clods of the earth in the cold +spring time. It is just like that with emigration. It is simply +criminal to take a multitude of untrained men and women and land them +penniless and helpless on the fringe of some new continent. The result +of such proceedings we see in the American cities; in the degradation +of their slums, and in the hopeless demoralisation of thousands who, in +their own country, were living decent, industrious lives. + +A few months since, in Paramatta, in New South Wales, a young man who +had emigrated with a vague hope of mending his fortunes, found himself +homeless, friendless, and penniless. He was a clerk. They wanted no +more clerks in Paramatta. Trade was dull, employment was scarce, even +for trained hands. He went about from day to day seeking work and +finding none. At last he came to the end of all his resources. He went +all day without food; at night he slept as best he could. Morning +came, and he was hopeless. All next day passed without a meal. +Night came. He could not sleep. He wandered about restlessly. +At last, about midnight, an idea seized him. Grasping a brick, he +deliberately walked up to a jeweller's window, and smashed a hole +through the glass. He made no attempt to steal anything: He merely +smashed the pane and then sat down on the pavement beneath the window, +waiting for the arrival of the policeman. He waited some hours; but at +last the constable arrived. He gave himself up, and was marched off to +the lock-up. "I shall at least have something to eat now," was the +reflection. He was right. He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, +and he is in gaol at this hour. This very morning he received his +rations, and at this very moment he is dodged, and clothed and cared +for at the cost of the rates and taxes. He has become the child of +the State, and, therefore, one of the socially damned. +Thus emigration itself, instead of being an invariable specific, +sometimes brings us back again to the gaol door. + +Emigration, by all means. But whom are you to emigrate? These girls +who do not know how to bake? These lads who never handled a spade? +And where are you to emigrate them? Are you going to make the Colonies +the dumping ground of your human refuse? On that the colonists will +have something decisive to say, where there are colonists; and where +there are not, how are you to feed, clothe, and employ your emigrants +in the uninhabited wilderness? Immigration, no doubt, is the making of +a colony, just as bread is the staff of life. But if you were to cram +a stomach with wheat by a force-pump you would bring on such a fit of +indigestion that unless your victim threw up the indigestible mass of +unground, uncooked, unmasticated grain he would never want another +meal. So it is with the new colonies and the surplus labour of other +countries. + +Emigration is in itself not a panacea. Is Education? In one sense it +may be, for Education, the developing in a man of all his latent +capacities for improvement, may cure anything and everything. But the +Education of which men speak when they use the term, is mere schooling. +No one but a fool would say a word against school teaching. By all +means let us have our children educated. But when we have passed them +through the Board School Mill we have enough experience to see that +they do not emerge the renovated and regenerated beings whose advent +was expected by those who passed the Education Act. The "scuttlers" +who knife inoffensive persons in Lancashire, the fighting gangs of the +West of London, belong to the generation that has enjoyed the advantage +of Compulsory Education. Education, book-learning and schooling will +not solve the difficulty. It helps, no doubt. But in some ways it +aggravates it. The common school to which the children of thieves and +harlots and drunkards are driven, to sit side by side with our little +ones, is often by no means a temple of all the virtues. +It is sometimes a university of all the vices. The bad infect the +good, and your boy and girl come back reeking with the contamination of +bad associates, and familiar with the coarsest obscenity of the slum. +Another great evil is the extent to which our Education tends to +overstock the labour market with material for quill-drivers and +shopmen, and gives our youth a distaste for sturdy labour. Many of the +most hopeless cases in our Shelters are men of considerable education. +Our schools help to enable a starving man to tell his story in more +grammatical language than that which his father could have employed, +but they do not feed him, or teach him where to go to get fed. So far +from doing this they increase the tendency to drift into those channels +where food is least secure, because employment is most uncertain, and +the market most overstocked. + +"Try Trades Unionism," say some, and their advice is being widely +followed. There are many and great advantages in Trades Unionism. +The fable of the bundle of sticks is good for all time. The more the +working people can be banded together in voluntary organisations, +created and administered by themselves for the protection of their own +interests, the better--at any rate for this world--and not only for +their own interests, but for those of every other section of the +community. But can we rely upon this agency as a means of solving the +problems which confront us? Trades Unionism has had the field to itself +for a generation. It is twenty years since it was set free from all +the legal disabilities under which it laboured. But it has not covered +the land. It has not organised all skilled labour. Unskilled labour +is almost untouched. At the Congress at Liverpool only one and a half +million workmen were represented. Women are almost entirely outside +the pale. Trade Unions not only represent a fraction of the labouring +classes, but they are, by their constitution, unable to deal with those +who do not belong to their body. What ground can there be, then, for +hoping that Trades Unionism will by itself solve the difficulty? The +most experienced Trades Unionists will be the first to admit that any +scheme which could deal adequately with the out-of-works and others who +hang on to their skirts and form the recruiting ground of blacklegs and +embarrass them in ever way, would be, of all others that which would be +most beneficial to Trades Unionism. The same may be said about +Co-operation. Personally, I am a strong believer in Co-operation, but +it must be Co-operation based on the spirit of benevolence. I don't +see how any pacific re-adjustment of the social and economic relations +between classes in this country can be effected except by the gradual +substitution of cooperative associations for the present wages system. +As you will see in subsequent chapters, so far from there being +anything in my proposals that would militate in any way against the +ultimate adoption of the co-operative solution of the question, I look +to Co-operation as one of the chief elements of hope in the future. +But we have not to deal with the ultimate future, but with the +immediate present, and for the evils with which we are dealing the +existing cooperative organisations do not and cannot give us much help. + +Another--I do not like to call it specific; it is only a name, a mere +mockery of a specific--so let me call it another suggestion made when +discussing this evil, is Thrift. Thrift is a great virtue no doubt. +But how is Thrift to benefit those who have nothing? What is the use +of the gospel of Thrift to a man who had nothing to eat yesterday, and +has not threepence to-day to pay for his lodging to-night? To live on +nothing a day is difficult enough, but to save on it would beat the +cleverest political economist that ever lived. I admit without +hesitation that any Scheme which weakened the incentive to Thrift would +do harm. But it is a mistake to imagine that social damnation is an +incentive to Thrift. It operates least where its force ought to be +most felt. There is no fear that any Scheme that we can devise will +appreciably diminish the deterrent influences which dispose a man to +save. But it is idle wasting time upon a plea that is only brought +forward as an excuse for inaction. Thrift is a great virtue, the +inculcation of which must be constantly kept in view by all those who +are attempting to "educate and save the people. It is not in any sense +a specific for the salvation of the lapsed and the lost. Even among +the most wretched of the very poor, a man must have an object and a +hope before he will save a halfpenny. "Let us eat and drink, for +to-morrow we perish," sums up the philosophy of those who have no hope. +In the thriftiness of the French peasant we see that the temptation of +eating and drinking is capable of being resolutely subordinated to the +superior claims of the accumulation of a dowry for the daughter, or for +the acquisition of a little more land for the son. + +Of the schemes of those who propose to bring in a new heaven and a new +earth by a more scientific distribution of the pieces of gold and +silver in the trouser pockets of mankind, I need not say anything here. +They may be good or they may not. I say nothing against any short cut +to the Millennium that is compatible with the Ten Commandments. +I intensely sympathise with the aspirations that lie behind all these +Socialist dreams. But whether it is Henry George's Single Tax on Land +Values, or Edward Bellamy's Nationalism, or the more elaborate schemes +of the Collectivists, my attitude towards them all is the same. +What these good people want to do, I also want to do. But I am a +practical man, dealing with the actualities of to-day. I have no +preconceived theories, and I flatter myself I am singularly free from +prejudices. I am ready to sit at the feet of any who will show me any +good. I keep my mind open on all these subjects; and am quite prepared +to hail with open arms any Utopia that is offered me. But it must be +within range of my finger-tips. It is of no use to me if it is in the +clouds. Cheques on the Bank of Futurity I accept gladly enough as a +free gift, but I can hardly be expected to take them as if they were +current coin, or to try to cash them at the Bank of England. + +It may be that nothing will be put permanently right until everything +has been turned upside down. There are certainly so many things that +need transforming, beginning with the heart of each individual man and +woman, that I do not quarrel with any Visionary when in his intense +longing for the amelioration of the condition of mankind he lays down +his theories as to the necessity for radical change, however +impracticable they may appear to me. But this is the question. +Here at our Shelters last night were a thousand hungry, workless +people. I want to know what to do with them? Here is John Jones, +a stout stalwart labourer in rags, who has not had one square meal for +a month, who has been hunting for work that will enable him to keep +body and soul together, and hunting in vain. There he is in his hungry +raggedness, asking for work that he may live, and not die of sheer +starvation in the midst of the wealthiest city in the world. +What is to be done with John Jones? + +The individualist tells me that the free play of the Natural Laws +governing the struggle for existence will result in the Survival of the +Fittest, and that in the course of a few ages, more or less, a much +nobler type will be evolved. But meanwhile what is to become of John +Jones? The Socialist tells me that the great Social Revolution is +looming large on the horizon. In the good time coming, when wealth +will be re-distributed and private property abolished, all stomachs +will be filled and there will be no more John Jones' impatiently +clamouring for opportunity to work that they may not die. It may be +so, but in the meantime here is John Jones growing more impatient than +ever because hungrier, who wonders if he is to wait for a dinner until +the Social Revolution has arrived. What are we to do with John Jones? +That is the question. And to the solution of that question none of the +Utopians give me much help. For practical purposes these dreamers fall +under the condemnation they lavish so freely upon the conventional +religious people who relieve themselves of all anxiety for the welfare +of the poor by saying that in the next world all will be put right. +This religious cant, which rids itself of all the importunity of +suffering humanity by drawing unnegotiable bills payable on the other +side of the grave, is not more impracticable than the Socialistic +clap-trap which postpones all redress of human suffering until after +the general overturn. Both take refuge in the Future to escape a +solution of the problems of the Present, and it matters little to the +sufferers whether the Future is on this side of the grave or the other. +Both are, for them, equally out of reach. + +When the sky falls we shall catch larks. No doubt. +But in the meantime? + +It is the meantime--that is the only time in which we have to work. +It is in the meantime that the people must be fed, that their life's +work must be done or left undone for ever. Nothing that I have to +propose in this book, or that I propose to do by my Scheme, will in the +least prevent the coming of any of the Utopias. I leave the limitless +infinite of the Future to the Utopians. They may build there as they +please. As for me, it is indispensable that whatever I do is founded +on existing fact, and provides a present help for the actual need. + +There is only one class or men who have cause to oppose the proposals +which I am about to set forth. That is those, if such there be, +who are determined to bring about by any and every means a bloody and +violent overturn of all existing institutions. They will oppose the +Scheme, and they will act logically in so doing. For the only hope of +those who are the artificers of Revolution is the mass of seething +discontent and misery that lies in the heart of the social system. +Honestly believing that things must get worse before they get better, +they build all their hopes upon the general overturn, and they resent +as an indefinite postponement of the realisation of their dreams any +attempt at a reduction of human misery. + +The Army of the Revolution is recruited by the Soldiers of Despair. +Therefore, down with any Scheme which gives men Hope. In so far as it +succeeds it curtails our recruiting ground and reinforces the ranks of +our Enemies. Such opposition is to be counted upon, and to be utilised +as the best of all tributes to the value of our work. Those who thus +count upon violence and bloodshed are too few to hinder, and their +opposition will merely add to the momentum with which I hope and +believe this Scheme will ultimately be enabled to surmount all dissent, +and achieve, with the blessing of God, that measure of success with +which I verily believe it to be charged. + + + +PART 2.--DELIVERANCE. + +CHAPTER 1. A STUPENDOUS UNDERTAKING. + +Such, then, is a brief and hurried survey of Darkest England, and those +who have been in the depths of the enchanted forest in which wander the +tribes of the despairing Lost will be the first to admit that I have in +no way exaggerated its horrors, while most will assert that I have +under-estimated the number of its denizens. I have, indeed, very +scrupulously striven to keep my estimates of the extent of the evil +within the lines of sobriety. Nothing in such an enterprise as that on +which I am entering could worse befall me than to come under the +reproach of sensationalism or exaggeration. Most of the evidence upon +which I have relied is taken direct from the official statistics +supplied by the Government Returns; and as to the rest, I can only say +that if my figures are compared with those of any other writer upon +this subject, it will be found that my estimates are the lowest. +I am not prepared to defend the exact accuracy of my calculations, +excepting so far as they constitute the minimum. To those who believe +that the numbers of the wretched are far in excess of my figures, +I have nothing to say, excepting this, that if the evil is so much +greater than I have described, then let your efforts be proportioned to +your estimate, not to mine. The great point with each of us is, not +how many of the wretched exist to-day, but how few shall there exist in +the years that are to come. + +The dark and dismal jungle of pauperism, vice, and despair is the +inheritance to which we have succeeded from the generations and +centuries past, during which wars, insurrections, and internal troubles +left our forefathers small leisure to attend to the well-being of the +sunken tenth. Now that we have happened upon more fortunate times, +let us recognise that we are our brother's keepers, and set to work, +regardless of party distinctions and religious differences, to make +this world of ours a little bit more like home for those whom we call +our brethren. + +The problem, it must be admitted, is by no means a simple one; nor can +anyone accuse me in the foregoing pages of having minimised the +difficulties which heredity, habit, and surroundings place in the way +of its solution, but unless we are prepared to fold our arms in +selfish ease and say that nothing can be done, and thereby doom those +lost millions to remediless perdition in this world, to say nothing of +the next, the problem must be solved in some way. But in what way? +That is the question. It may tend, perhaps, to the crystallisation of +opinion on this subject if I lay down, with such precision as I can +command, what must be the essential elements of any scheme likely to +command success. + +SECTION I.--THE ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS. + +The first essential that must be borne in mind as governing every +Scheme that may be put forward is that it must change the man when it +is his character and conduct which constitute the reasons for his +failure in the battle of life. No change in circumstances, no +revolution in social conditions, can possibly transform the nature of +man. Some of the worst men and women in the world, whose names are +chronicled by history with a shudder of horror, were those who had all +the advantages that wealth, education and station could confer or +ambition could attain. + +The supreme test of any scheme for benefiting humanity lies in the +answer to the question, What does it make of the individual? Does it +quicken his conscience, does it soften his heart, does it enlighten his +mind, does it, in short, make more of a true man of him, because only +by such influences can he be enabled to lead a human life? Among the +denizens of Darkest England there are many who have found their way +thither by defects of character which would under the most favourable +circumstances relegate them to the same position. Hence, unless you can +change their character your labour will be lost. You may clothe the +drunkard, fill his purse with gold, establish him in a well-furnished +home, and in three, or six, or twelve months he will once more be on +the Embankment, haunted by delirium tremens, dirty, squalid, and +ragged. Hence, in all cases where a man's own character and defects +constitute the reasons for his fall, that character must be changed and +that conduct altered if any permanent beneficial results are to be +attained. If he is a drunkard, he must be made sober; if idle, he must +be made industrious; if criminal, he must be made honest; if impure, +he must be made clean; and if he be so deep down in vice, and has been +there so long that he has lost all heart, and hope, and power to help +himself, and absolutely refuses to move, he must be inspired with hope +and have created within him the ambition to rise; otherwise he will +never get out of the horrible pit. + +Secondly: The remedy, to be effectual, must change the circumstances of +the individual when they are the cause of his wretched condition, and +lie beyond his control. Among those who have arrived at their present +evil plight through faults of self-indulgence or some defect in their +moral character, how many are there who would have been very +differently placed to-day had their surroundings been otherwise? +Charles Kingsley puts this very abruptly where he makes the Poacher's +widow say, when addressing the Bad Squire, who drew back + + "Our daughters, with base--born babies, + Have wandered away in their shame. + If your misses had slept, Squire, where they did, + Your misses might do the same.' + + +Placed in the same or similar circumstances, how many of us would have +turned out better than this poor, lapsed, sunken multitude? + +Many of this crowd have never had a chance of doing better; they have +been born in a poisoned atmosphere, educated in circumstances which +have rendered modesty an impossibility, and have been thrown into life +in conditions which make vice a second nature. Hence, to provide an +effective remedy for the evils which we are deploring these +circumstances must be altered, and unless my Scheme effects such a +change, it will be of no use. There are multitudes, myriads, of men and +women, who are floundering in the horrible quagmire beneath the burden +of a load too heavy for them to bear; every plunge they take forward +lands them deeper; some have ceased even to struggle, and lie prone in +the filthy bog, slowly suffocating, with their manhood and womanhood +all but perished. It is no use standing on the firm bank of the +quaking morass and anathematising these poor wretches; if you are to do +them any good, you must give them another chance to get on their feet, +you must give them firm foothold upon which they can once more stand +upright, and you must build stepping-stones across the bog to enable +them safely to reach the other side. Favourable circumstances will not +change a man's heart or transform his nature, but unpropitious +circumstances may render it absolutely impossible for him to escape, +no matter how he may desire to extricate himself. The first step with +these helpless, sunken creatures is to create the desire to escape, +and then provide the means for doing so. In other words, give the man +another chance. + +Thirdly: Any remedy worthy of consideration must be on a scale +commensurate with the evil with which it proposes to deal. It is no use +trying to bail out the ocean with a pint pot. This evil is one whose +victims are counted by the million. The army of the Lost in our midst +exceeds the numbers of that multitudinous host which Xerxes led from +Asia to attempt the conquest of Greece. Pass in parade those who make +up the submerged tenth, count the paupers indoor and outdoor, the +homeless, the starving, the criminals, the lunatics, the drunkards, +and the harlots--and yet do not give way to despair! Even to attempt +to save a tithe of this host requires that we should put much more +force and fire into our work than has hitherto been exhibited by +anyone. There must be no more philanthropic tinkering, as if this vast +sea of human misery were contained in the limits of a garden pond. + +Fourthly: Not only must the Scheme be large enough, but it must be +permanent. That is to say, it must not be merely a spasmodic effort +coping with the misery of to-day; it must be established on a durable +footing, so as to go on dealing with the misery of tomorrow and the +day after, so long as there is misery left in the world with which to +grapple. + +Fifthly: But while it must be permanent, it must also be immediately +practicable. Any Scheme, to be of use, must be capable of being brought +into instant operation with beneficial results. + +Sixthly: The indirect features of the Scheme must not be such as to +produce injury to the persons whom we seek to benefit. Mere charity, +for instance, while relieving the pinch of hunger, demoralises the +recipient; and whatever the remedy is that we employ, it must be of +such a nature as to do good without doing evil at the same time. +It is no use conferring sixpennyworth of benefit on a man if, at the +same time, we do him a shilling'sworth of harm. + +Seventhly: While assisting one class of the community, it must not +seriously interfere with the interests of another. In raising one +section of the fallen, we must not thereby endanger the safety of those +who with difficulty are keeping on their feet. + +These are the conditions by which I ask you to test the Scheme I am +about to unfold. They are formidable enough, possibly, to deter many +from even attempting to do anything. They are not of my making. They +are obvious to anyone who looks into the matter. They are the laws +which govern the work of the philanthropic reformer, just as the laws +of gravitation, of wind and of weather, govern the operations of the +engineer. It is no use saying we could build a bridge across the Tay +if the wind did not blow, or that we could build a railway across a bog +if the quagmire would afford us a solid foundation. The engineer has +to take into account the difficulties, and make them his starting +point. The wind will blow, therefore the bridge must be made strong +enough to resist it. Chat Moss will shake; therefore we must construct +a foundation in the very bowels of the bog on which to build our +railway. So it is with the social difficulties which confront us. +If we act in harmony with these laws we shall triumph; but if we ignore +them they will overwhelm us with destruction and cover us with +disgrace. + +But, difficult as the task may be, it is not one which we can neglect. +When Napoleon was compelled to retreat under circumstances which +rendered it impossible for him to carry off his sick and wounded, +he ordered his doctors to poison every man in the hospital. A general +has before now massacred his prisoners rather than allow them to +escape. These Lost ones are the Prisoners of Society; they are the +Sick and Wounded in our Hospitals. What a shriek would arise from the +civilised world if it were proposed to administer to-night to every one +of these millions such a dose of morphine that they would sleep to wake +no more. But so far as they are concerned, would it not be much less +cruel thus to end their life than to allow them to drag on day after +day, year after year, in misery, anguish, and despair, driven into vice +and hunted into crime, until at last disease harries them into the +grave? + +I am under no delusion as to the possibility of inaugurating a +millennium by my Scheme; but the triumphs of science deal so much with +the utilisation of waste material, that I do not despair of something +effectual being accomplished in the utilisation of this waste human +product. The refuse which was a drug and a curse to our manufacturers, +when treated under the hands of the chemist, has been the means of +supplying us with dyes rivalling in loveliness and variety the hues of +the rainbow. If the alchemy of science can extract beautiful colours +from coal tar, cannot Divine alchemy enable us to evolve gladness and +brightness out of the agonised hearts and dark, dreary, loveless lives +of these doomed myriads? Is it too much to hope that in God's world +God's children may be able to do something, if they set to work with a +will, to carry out a plan of campaign against these great evils which +are the nightmare of our existence? + +The remedy, it may be, is simpler than some imagine. The key to the +enigma may lie closer to our hands than we have any idea of. +Many devices have been tried, and many have failed, no doubt; +it is only stubborn, reckless perseverance that can hope to succeed; +it is well that we recognise this. How many ages did men try to make +gunpowder and never succeeded? They would put saltpetre to charcoal, +or charcoal to sulphur, or saltpetre to sulphur, and so were ever +unable to make the compound explode. But it has only been discovered +within the last few hundred years that all three were needed. +Before that gunpowder was a mere imagination, a phantasy of the +alchemists. How easy it is to make gunpowder, now the secret of its +manufacture is known! + +But take a simpler illustration, one which lies even within the memory +of some that read these pages. From the beginning of the world down to +the beginning of this century, mankind had not found out, with all its +striving after cheap and easy transport, the miraculous difference that +would be brought about by laying down two parallel lines of metal. +All the great men and the wise men of the past lived and died oblivious +of that fact. The greatest mechanicians and engineers of antiquity, +the men who bridged all the rivers of Europe, the architects who built +the cathedrals which are still the wonder of the world, failed to +discern what seems to us so obviously simple a proposition, that two +parallel lines of rail would diminish the cost and difficulty of +transport to a minimum. Without that discovery the steam engine, which +has itself been an invention of quite recent years, would have failed +to transform civilisation. + +What we have to do in the philanthropic sphere is to find something +analogous to the engineers' parallel bars. This discovery think I have +made, and hence have I written this book. + + +SECTION 2--MY SCHEME + +What, then, is my Scheme? It is a very simple one, although in its +ramifications and extensions it embraces the whole world. In this book +I profess to do no more than to merely outline, as plainly and as +simply as I can, the fundamental features of my proposals. I propose +to devote the bulk of this volume to setting forth what can practically +be done with one of the most pressing parts of the problem, namely, +that relating to those who are out of work, and who, as the result, +are more or less destitute. I have many ideas of what might be done +with those who are at present cared for in some measure by the State, +but I will leave these ideas for the present. + +It is not urgent that I should explain how our Poor Law system could be +reformed, or what I should like to see done for the Lunatics in +Asylums, or the Criminals in Gaols. The persons who are provided for by +the State we will, therefore, for the moment, leave out of count. +The indoor paupers, the convicts, the inmates of the lunatic asylums +are cared for, in a fashion; already. But, over and above all these, +there exists some hundreds of thousands who are not quartered on the +State, but who are living on the verge of despair, and who at any +moment, under circumstances of misfortune, might be compelled to demand +relief or support in one shape or another. I will confine myself, +therefore, for the present to those who have no helper. + +It is possible, I think probable, if the proposals which I am now +putting forward are carried out successfully in relation to the lost, +homeless, and helpless of the population, that many of those who are at +the present moment in somewhat better circumstances will demand that +they also shall be allowed to partake in the benefits of the Scheme. +But upon this, also, I remain silent. I merely remark that we have, +in the recognition of the importance of discipline and organisation; +what may be called regimented co-operation, a principle that will be +found valuable for solving many social problems other than that of +destitution. Of these plans, which are at present being brooded over +with a view to their realisation when the time is propitious and the +opportunity occurs, I shall have something to say. + +What is the outward and visible form of the Problem of the Unemployed? +Alas! we are all too familiar with it for any lengthy description to +be necessary. The social problem presents itself before us whenever a +hungry, dirty and ragged man stands at our door asking if we can give +him a crust or a job. That is the social question. What are you to do +with that man? He has no money in his pocket, all that he can pawn he +has pawned long ago, his stomach is as empty as his purse, and the +whole of the clothes upon his back, even if sold on the best terms, +would not fetch a shilling. There he stands, your brother, with +sixpennyworth of rags to cover his nakedness from his fellow men and +not sixpennyworth of victuals within his reach. He asks for work, +which he will set to even on his empty stomach and in his ragged +uniform, if so be that you will give him something for it, but his +hands are idle, for no one employs him. What are you to do with that +man? That is the great note of interrogation that confronts Society +to-day. Not only in overcrowded England, but in newer countries beyond +the sea, where Society has not yet provided a means by which the men +can be put upon the land and the land be made to feed the men. +To deal with this man is the Problem of the Unemployed. To deal with +him effectively you must deal with him immediately, you must provide +him in some way or other at once with food, and shelter, and warmth. +Next you must find him something to do, something that will test the +reality of his desire to work. This test must be more or less +temporary, and should be of such a nature as to prepare him for making +a permanent livelihood. Then, having trained him, you must provide him +wherewithal to start life afresh. All these things I propose to do. +My Scheme divides itself into three sections, each of which is +indispensable for the success of the whole. In this three-fold +organisation lies the open secret of the solution of the Social Problem. + +The Scheme I have to offer consists in the formation of these people +into self-helping and self-sustaining communities, each being a kind of +co-operative society, or patriarchal family, governed and disciplined +on the principles which have already proved so effective in the +Salvation Army. + + +These communities we will call, for want of a better term, Colonies. +There will be: -- + + (1) The City Colony. + (2) The Farm Colony. + (3) The Over-Sea Colony. + + +THE CITY COLONY. + +By the City Colony is meant the establishment, in the very centre of +the ocean of misery of which we have been speaking, of a number of +Institutions to act as Harbours of Refuge for all and any who have been +shipwrecked in life, character, or circumstances. These Harbours will +gather up the poor destitute creatures, supply their immediate pressing +necessities, furnish temporary employment, inspire them with hope for +the future, and commence at once a course of regeneration by moral and +religious influences. + +From these Institutions, which are hereafter described, numbers would, +after a short time, be floated off to permanent employment, or sent +home to friends happy to receive them on hearing of their reformation. +All who remain on our hands would, by varied means, be tested as to +their sincerity, industry, and honesty, and as soon as satisfaction was +created, be passed on to the Colony of the second class. + + +THE FARM COLONY. + +This would consist of a settlement of the Colonists on an estate in the +provinces, in the culture of which they would find employment and +obtain support. As the race from the Country to the City has been the +cause of much of the distress we have to battle with, we propose to +find a substantial part of our remedy by transferring these same people +back to the country, that is back again to "the Garden!" + +Here the process of reformation of character would be carried forward +by the same industrial, moral, and religious methods as have already +been commenced in the City, especially including those forms of labour +and that knowledge of agriculture which, should the Colonist not +obtain employment in this country, will qualify him for pursuing his +fortunes under more favourable circumstances in some other land. + +From the Farm, as from the City, there can be no question that large +numbers, resuscitated in health and character, would be restored to +friends up and down the country. Some would find employment in their +own callings, others would settle in cottages on a small piece of land +that we should provide, or on Co-operative Farms which we intend to +promote; while the great bulk, after trial and training, would be +passed on to the Foreign Settlement, which would constitute our third +class, namely The Over-Sea Colony. + + +THE OVER-SEA COLONY. + +All who have given attention to the subject are agreed that in our +Colonies in South Africa, Canada, Western Australia and elsewhere, +there are millions of acres of useful land to be obtained almost for +the asking, capable of supporting our surplus population in health and +comfort, were it a thousand times greater than it is. We propose to +secure a tract of land in one of these countries, prepare it for +settlement, establish in it authority, govern it by equitable laws, +assist it in times of necessity, settling it gradually with a prepared +people, and so create a home for these destitute multitudes. + +The Scheme, in its entirety, may aptly be compared to A Great Machine, +foundationed in the lowest slums and purlieus of our great towns and +cities, drawing up into its embrace the depraved and destitute of all +classes; receiving thieves, harlots, paupers, drunkards, prodigals, +all alike, on the simple conditions of their being willing to work and +to conform to discipline. Drawing up these poor outcasts, reforming +them, and creating in them habits of industry, honesty, and truth; +teaching them methods by which alike the bread that perishes and that +which endures to Everlasting Life can be won. Forwarding them from the +City to the Country, and there continuing the process of regeneration, +and then pouring them forth on to the virgin soils that await their +coming in other lands, keeping hold of them with a strong government, +and yet making them free men and women; and so laying the foundations, +perchance, of another Empire to swell to vast proportions in later +times. Why not? + +CHAPTER 2. TO THE RESCUE!--THE CITY COLONY. + +The first section of my Scheme is the establishment of a Receiving +House for the Destitute in every great centre of population. We start, +let us remember, from the individual, the ragged, hungry, penniless man +who confronts us with despairing demands for food, shelter, and work. +Now, I have had some two or three years' experience in dealing with +this class. I believe, at the present moment, the Salvation Army +supplies more food and shelter to the destitute than any other +organisation in London, and it is the experience and encouragement +which I have gained in the working of these Food and Shelter Depots +which has largely encouraged me to propound this scheme. + + +SECTION 1.--FOOD AND SHELTER FOR EVERY MAN. + +As I rode through Canada and the United States some three years ago, +I was greatly impressed with the superabundance of food which I saw at +every turn. Oh, how I longed that the poor starving people, and the +hungry children of the East of London and of other centres of our +destitute populations, should come into the midst of this abundance, +but as it appeared impossible for me to take them to it, I secretly +resolved that I would endeavour to bring some of it to them. +I am thankful to say that I have already been able to do so on a small +scale, and hope to accomplish it ere long on a much vaster one. + +With this view, the first Cheap Food Depot was opened in the East of +London two and a half years ago. This has been followed by others, +and we have now three establishments: others are being arranged for. + +Since the commencement in 1888, we have supplied over three and a half +million meals. Some idea can be formed of the extent to which these +Food and Shelter Depots have already struck their roots into the strata +of Society which it is proposed to benefit, by the following figures, +which give the quantities of food sold during the year at our Food +Depots. + +FOOD SOLD IN DEPOTS AND SHELTERS DURING 1889. + + Article Weight Measure Remarks + Soup ......... 116,400 gallons + Bread 192.5 tons 106,964 4-lb loaves + Tea 2.5 tons 46,980 gallons + Coffee 15 cwt. 13,949 gallons + Cocoa 6 tons 29,229 gallons + Sugar 25 tons ..................... 300 bags + Potatoes 140 tons ..................... 2,800 bags + Flour 18 tons ..................... 180 sacks + Peaflour 28.5 tons ..................... 288 sacks + Oatmeal 3.5 tons ..................... 36 sacks + Rice 12 tons ..................... 120 sacks + Beans 12 tons ..................... 240 sacks +Onions and parsnips 12 tons ..................... 240 sacks + Jam 9 tons ..................... 2,880 jars + Marmalade 6 tons ..................... 1,920 jars + Meat 15 tons ..................... + Milk .......... 14,300 quarts + +This includes returns from three Food Depots and five Shelters. +I propose to multiply their number, to develop their usefulness, +and to make them the threshold of the whole Scheme. Those who have +already visited our Depots will understand exactly what th is means. +The majority, however, of the readers of these pages have not done so, +and for them it is necessary to explain what they are. + +At each of our Depots, which can be seen by anybody that cares to take +the trouble to visit them, there are two departments, one dealing with +food, the other with shelter. Of these both are worked together and +minister to the same individuals. Many come for food who do not come +for shelter, although most of those who come for shelter also come for +food, which is sold on terms to cover, as nearly as possible, the cost +price and working expenses of the establishment. In this our Food +Depots differ from the ordinary soup kitchens. + +There is no gratuitous distribution of victuals. The following is our +Price List: -- + + WHAT IS SOLD AT THE FOOD DEPOTS. + +For a child + +Soup Per Basin 1/4d +Soup With Bread 1/2d +Coffee or Cocoa per cup 1/4d +Coffee or Cocoa With Bread and Jam 1/2d + +For adults + +Soup .. .. .. Per Basin 1/2d +Soup .. .. .. With Bread 1d +Potatoes .. .. .. .. .. 1/2d +Cabbage .. .. .. .. .. 1/2d +Haricot Beans .. .. .. .. 1/2d +Boiled Jam Pudding .. .. .. 1/2d +Boiled Plum Pudding .. .. Each 1d +Rice .. .. .. .. .. .. 1/2d +Baked Plum .. .. .. .. 1/2d +Baked Jam Roll .. .. .. .. 1/2d +Meat Pudding and Potatoes .. .. 3d +Corned Beef .. .. .. .. 2d +Corned Mutton .. .. .. .. 2d +Coffee per cup 1/2d; per mug 1d +Cocoa per cup 1/2d; per mug 1d +Tea per cup 1/2d; per mug 1d +Bread & Butter, Jam or Marmalade per slice 1/2d + +Soup in own Jugs, 1d per Quart. Ready at 10 a.m. + +A certain discretionary power is vested in the Officers in charge of +the Depot, and they can in very urgent cases give relief, but the rule +is for the food to be paid for, and the financial results show that +working expenses are just about covered. + +These Cheap Food Depots I have no doubt have been and are or great +service to numbers of hungry starving men, women, and children, at the +prices just named, which must be within the reach of all, except the +absolutely penniless; but it is the Shelter that I regard as the most +useful feature in this part of our undertaking, for if anything is to +be done to get hold of those who use the Depot, some more favourable +opportunity must be afforded than is offered by the mere coming into +the food store to get, perhaps, only a basin of soup. This part of the +Scheme I propose to extend very considerably. + +Suppose that you are a casual in the streets of London, homeless, +friendless, weary with looking for work all day and finding none. +Night comes on. Where are you to go? You have perhaps only a few +coppers, or it may be, a few shillings, left of the rapidly dwindling +store of your little capital. You shrink from sleeping in the open +air; you equally shrink from going to the fourpenny Dosshouse where, +in the midst of strange and ribald company, you may be robbed of the +remnant of the money still in your possession. While at a loss as to +what to do, someone who sees you suggests that you should go to our +Shelter. You cannot, of course, go to the Casual Ward of the Workhouse +as long as you have any money in your possession. You come along to +one of our Shelters. On entering you pay fourpence, and are free of +the establishment for the night. You can come in early or late. +The company begins to assemble about five o'clock in the afternoon. +In the women's Shelter you find that many come much earlier and sit +sewing, reading or chatting in the sparely furnished but well warmed +room from the early hours of the afternoon until bedtime. + +You come in, and you get a large pot of coffee, tea, or cocoa, +and a hunk of bread. You can go into the wash-house, where you can +have a wash with plenty of warm water, and soap and towels free. +Then after having washed and eaten you can make yourself comfortable. +You can write letters to your friends, if you have any friends to +write to, or you can read, or you can sit quietly and do nothing. +At eight o'clock the Shelter is tolerably full, and then begins what +we consider to be the indispensable feature of the whole concern. +Two or three hundred men in the men's Shelter, or as many women in the +women's Shelter, are collected together, most of them strange to each +other, in a large room. They are all wretchedly poor--what are you +to do with them? This is what we do with them. + +We hold a rousing Salvation meeting. The Officer in charge of the +Depot, assisted by detachments from the Training Homes, conducts a +jovial free-and-easy social evening. The girls have their banjos and +their tambourines, and for a couple of hours you have as lively a +meeting as you will find in London. There is prayer, short and to the +point; there are addresses, some delivered by the leaders of the +meeting, but the most of them the testimonies of those who have been +saved at previous meetings, and who, rising in their seats, tell their +companions their experiences. Strange experiences they often are of +those who have been down in the very bottomless depths of sin and vice +and misery, but who have found at last firm footing on which to stand, +and who are, as they say in all sincerity, "as happy as the day is +long." There is a joviality and a genuine good feeling at some of these +meetings which is refreshing to the soul. There are all sorts and +conditions of men; casuals, gaol birds, Out-of-Works, who have come +there for the first time, and who find men who last week or last month +were even as they themselves are now--still poor but rejoicing in a +sense of brotherhood and a consciousness of their being no longer +outcasts and forlorn in this wide world. There are men who have at +last seen revive before them a hope of escaping from that dreadful +vortex, into which their sins and misfortunes had drawn them, and being +restored to those comforts that they had feared so long were gone for +ever; nay, of rising to live a true and Godly life. These tell their +mates how this has come about, and urge all who hear them to try for +themselves and see whether it is not a good and happy thing to be +soundly saved. In the intervals of testimony--and these testimonies, +as every one will bear me witness who has ever attended any of our +meetings, are not long, sanctimonious lackadaisical speeches, but +simple confessions of individual experience--there are bursts of +hearty melody. The conductor of the meeting will start up a verse or +two of a hymn illustrative of the experiences mentioned by the last +speaker, or one of the girls from the Training Home will sing a solo, +accompanying herself on her instrument, while all join in a rattling +and rollicking chorus. + +There is no compulsion upon anyone of our dossers to take part in this +meeting; they do not need to come in until it is over; but as a simple +matter of fact they do come in. Any night between eight and ten o'clock +you will find these people sitting there, listening to the +exhortations and taking part in the singing, many of them, no doubt, +unsympathetic enough, but nevertheless preferring to be present with +the music and the warmth, mildly stirred, if only by curiosity, +as the various testimonies are delivered. + +Sometimes these testimonies are enough to rouse the most cynical of +observers. We had at one of our shelters the captain of an ocean +steamer, who had sunk to the depths of destitution through strong +drink. He came in there one night utterly desperate and was taken in +hand by our people--and with us taking in hand is no mere phrase, +for at the close of our meetings our officers go from seat to seat, +and if they see anyone who shows signs of being affected by the +speeches or the singing, at once sit down beside him and begin to +labour with him for the salvation of his soul. By this means they are +able to get hold of the men and to know exactly where the difficulty +lies, what the trouble is, and if they do nothing else, at least +succeed in convincing them that there is someone who cares for their +soul and would do what he could to lend them a helping hand. + +The captain of whom I was speaking was got hold of in this way. +He was deeply impressed, and was induced to abandon once and for all +his habits of intemperance. From that meeting he went an altered man. +He regained his position in the merchant service, and twelve months +afterwards astonished us all by appearing in the uniform of a captain +of a large ocean steamer, to testify to those who were there how low he +had been, how utterly he had lost all hold on Society and all hope of +the future, when, fortunately led to the Shelter, he found friends, +counsel, and salvation, and from that time had never rested until he +had regained the position which he had forfeited by his intemperance. + +The meeting over, the singing girls go back to the Training Home, +and the men prepare for bed. Our sleeping arrangements are somewhat +primitive; we do not provide feather beds, and when you go into our +dormitories, you will be surprised to find the floor covered by what +look like an endless array of packing cases. These are our beds, +and each of them forms a cubicle. There is a mattress laid on the +floor, and over the mattress a leather apron, which is all the +bedclothes that we find it possible to provide. The men undress, +each by the side of his packing box, and go to sleep under their +leather covering. The dormitory is warmed with hot water pipes to a +temperature of 60 degrees, and there has never been any complaint of +lack of warmth on the part of those who use the Shelter. The leather +can be kept perfectly clean, and the mattresses, covered with American +cloth, are carefully inspected every day, so that no stray specimen of +vermin may be left in the place. The men turn in about ten o'clock and +sleep until six. We have never any disturbances of any kind in the +Shelters. We have provided accommodation now for several thousand of +the most helplessly broken-down men in London, criminals many of them, +mendicants, tramps, those who are among the filth and offscouring of +all things; but such is the influence that is established by the +meeting and the moral ascendancy of our officers themselves, that we +have never had a fight on the premises, and very seldom do we ever hear +an oath or an obscene word. Sometimes there has been trouble outside +the Shelter, when men insisted upon coming in drunk or were otherwise +violent; but once let them come to the Shelter, and get into the swing +of the concern, and we have no trouble with them. In the morning they +get up and have their breakfast and, after a short service, go off +their various ways. We find that we can do this, that is to say, we +can provide coffee and bread for breakfast and for supper, and a +shake-down on the floor in the packing-boxes I have described in a warm +dormitory for fourpence a head. + +I propose to develop these Shelters, so as to afford every man a +locker, in which he could store any little valuables that he may +possess. I would also allow him the use of a boiler in the washhouse +with a hot drying oven, so that he could wash his shirt over night and +have it returned to him dry in the morning. Only those who have had +practical experience of the difficulty of seeking for work in London +can appreciate the advantages of the opportunity to get your shirt +washed in this way--if you have one. In Trafalgar Square, in 1887, +there were few things that scandalised the public more than the +spectacle of the poor people camped in the Square, washing their shirts +in the early morning at the fountains. If you talk to any men who have +been on the road for a lengthened period they will tell you that +nothing hurts their self-respect more or stands more fatally in the way +of their getting a job than the impossibility of getting their little +things done up and clean. + +In our poor man's "Home" everyone could at least keep himself clean and +have a clean shirt to his back, in a plain way, no doubt; but still not +less effective than if he were to be put up at one of the West End +hotels, and would be able to secure anyway the necessaries of life +while being passed on to something far better. This is the first step. + +SOME SHELTER TROPHIES. + +Of the practical results which have followed our methods of dealing +with the outcasts who take shelter with us we have many striking +examples. Here are a few, each of them a transcript of a life +experience relating to men who are now active, industrious members of +the community upon which but for the agency of these Depots they would +have been preying to this day. + +A.S.--Born in Glasgow, 1825. Saved at Clerkenwell, May 19, 1889. +Poor parents raised in a Glasgow Slum. Was thrown on the streets at +seven years of age, became the companion and associate of thieves, and +drifted into crime. The following are his terms of imprisonment: -- +14 days, 30 days, 30 days. 60 days, 60 days (three times in succession), +4 months, 6 months (twice), 9 months, 18 months, 2 years, 6 years, +7 years (twice), 14 years; 40 years 3 months and 6 days in the +aggregate. Was flogged for violent conduct in gaol 8 times. + +W. M. ("Buff").--Born in Deptford, 1864, saved at Clerkenwell, +March 31st, 1889. His father was an old Navy man, and earned a decent +living as manager. Was sober, respectable, and trustworthy. Mother +was a disreputable drunken slattern: a curse and disgrace to husband +and family. The home was broken up, and little Buff was given over to +the evil influences of his depraved mother. His 7th birthday present +from his admiring parent was a "quarten o'gin." He got some education +at the One Tun Alley Ragged School, but when nine years old was caught +apple stealing, and sent to the industrial School at Ilford for +7 years. Discharged at the end of his term, he drifted to the streets, +the casual wards, and Metropolitan gaols, every one of whose interiors +he is familiar with. He became a ringleader of a gang that infested +London; a thorough mendicant and ne'er-do-well; a pest to society. +Naturally he is a born leader, and one of those spirits that command a +following; consequently, when he got Salvation, the major part of his +following came after him to the Shelter, and eventually to God. +His character since conversion has been altogether satisfactory, and he +is now an Orderly at Whitechapel, and to all appearances a "true lad." + +C. W. ("Frisco").--Born in San Francisco, 1862. Saved April 24th, +1889. Taken away from home at the age of eight years, and made his way +to Texas. Here he took up life amongst the Ranches as a Cowboy, +and varied it with occasional trips to sea, developing into a typical +brass and rowdy. He had 2 years for mutiny at sea, 4 years for mule +stealing, 5 years for cattle stealing and has altogether been in gaol +for thirteen years and eleven months. He came over to England, +got mixed up with thieves and casuals here, and did several short terms +of imprisonment. He was met on his release at Millbank by an old chum +(Buff) and the Shelter Captain; came to Shelter, got saved, and has +stood firm. + +H. A.--Born at Deptford, 1850. Saved at Clerkenwell, January 12th, +1889. Lost mother in early life, step-mother difficulty supervening, +and a propensity to misappropriation of small things developed into +thieving. He followed the sea, became a hard drinker, a foul-mouthed +blasphemer, and a blatant spouter of infidelity. He drifted about for +years, ashore and afloat, and eventually reached the Shelter stranded. +Here he sought God, and has done well. This summer he had charge of a +gang of haymakers sent into the country, and stood the ordeal +satisfactorily. He seems honest in his profession, and strives +patiently to follow after God. He is at the workshops. + +H. S.--Born at A---, in Scotland. Like most Scotch lads although +parents were in poor circumstances he managed to get a good education. +Early in life he took to newspaper work, and picked up the details of +the journalistic profession in several prominent papers in N.B. +Eventually he got a position on a provincial newspaper, and having put +in a course at Glasgow University, graduated B.A. there. After this +he was on the staff of a Welsh paper. He married a decent girl, +and had several little ones, but giving way to drink, lost position, +wife, family, and friends. At times he would struggle up and recover +himself, and appears generally to have been able to secure a position, +but again and again his besetment overcame him, and each time he would +drift lower and lower. For a time he was engaged in secretarial work +on a prominent London Charity, but fell repeatedly, and at length was +dismissed. He came to us an utter outcast, was sent to Shelter and +Workshop got saved, and is now in a good situation. He gives every +promise, and those best able to judge seem very sanguine that at last a +real good work has been accomplished in him. + +F. D.--Was born in London, and brought up to the iron trade. +Held several good situations, losing one after another, from drink and +irregularity. On one occasion, with #20 in his pocket, he started for +Manchester, got drunk there, was locked up and fined five shillings, +and fifteen shillings costs; this he paid, and as he was leaving the +Court, a gentleman stopped him, saying that he knew his father, +and inviting him to his house; however, with #10 in his pocket, he was +too independent, and he declined; but the gentleman gave him his +address, and left him. A few days squandered his cash, and clothes +soon followed, all disappearing for drink, and then without a coin he +presented himself at the address given to him, at ten o'clock at night. +It turned out to be his uncle, who gave him #2 to go back to London, +but this too disappeared for liquor. He tramped back to London utterly +destitute. Several nights were passed on the Embankment, and on one +occasion a gentleman gave him a ticket for the Shelter; this, however, +he sold for 2d. and had a pint of beer, and stopped out all night. +But it set him thinking, and he determined next day to raise 4d. and +see what a Shelter was like. He came to Whitechapel, became a regular +customer, eight months ago got saved, and is now doing well. + +F. H.--Was born at Birmingham, 1858. Saved at Whitechapel, +March 26th, 1890. Father died in his infancy, mother marrying again. +The stepfather was a drunken navvy, and used to knock the mother about, +and the lad was left to the streets. At 12 years of age he left home, +and tramped to Liverpool, begging his way, and sleeping on the +roadsides. In Liverpool he lived about the Docks for some days, +sleeping where he could. Police found him and returned him to +Birmingham; his reception being an unmerciful thrashing from the +drunken stepfather. He got several jobs as errand-boy, remarkable for +his secret pilferings, and two years later left with fifty shillings +stolen money, and reached Middlesbrough by road. Got work in a nail +factory stayed nine months, then stole nine shillings from +fellow-lodger, and again took the road. He reached Birmingham, and +finding a warrant out for him, joined the Navy. He was in the +Impregnable training-ship three years behaved himself, only getting +"one dozen," and was transferred with character marked "good" to the +Iron Duke in the China seas; soon got drinking, and was locked up and +imprisoned for riotous conduct in almost every port in the stations. +He broke ship, and deserted several times, and was a thorough specimen +of a bad British tar. He saw gaol in Signapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama, +Shanghai, Canton, and other places. In five years returned home, and, +after furlough, joined the Belle Isle in the Irish station. Whisky +here again got hold of him, and excess ruined his constitution. +On his leave he had married, and on his discharge joined his wife in +Birmingham. For some time he worked as sweeper in the market, but two +years ago deserted his wife and family, and came to London, settled +down to a loafer's life, lived on the streets with Casual Wards for his +home. Eventually came to Whitechapel Shelter, and got saved. +He is now a trustworthy, reliable lad; has become reconciled to wife, +who came to London to see him, and he bids fair to be a useful man. + +J. W. S.--Born in Plymouth. His parents are respectable people. +He is clever at his business, and has held good situations. Two years +ago he came to London, fell into evil courses, and took to drink. +Lost situation after situation, and kept on drinking; lost everything, +and came to the streets. He found out Westminster Shelter, +and eventually got saved; his parents were communicated with, and help +and clothes forthcoming; with Salvation came hope and energy; he got a +situation at Lewisham (7d. per hour) at his trade. Four months +standing, and is a promising Soldier as well as a respectable mechanic. + +J. T.--Born in Ireland; well educated (commercially); clerk and +accountant. Early in life joined the Queen's Army, and by good conduct +worked his way up. Was orderly-room clerk and paymaster's assistant in +his regiment. He led a steady life whilst in the service, and at the +expiration of his term passed into the Reserve with a "very good" +character. He was a long time unemployed, and this appears to have +reduced him to despair, and so to drink. He sank to the lowest ebb, +and came to Westminster in a deplorable condition; coatless, hatless, +shirtless, dirty altogether, a fearful specimen of what a man of good +parentage can be brought to. After being at Shelter some time, he got +saved, was passed to Workshops, and gave great satisfaction. +At present he is doing clerical work and gives satisfaction as a workman: +a good influence in the place. + +J. S.--Born in London, of decent parentage. From a child he +exhibited thieving propensities; soon got into the hands of the police, +and was in and out of gaol continually. He led the life of a confirmed +tramp, and roved all over the United Kingdom. He has been in penal +servitude three times, and his last term was for seven years, with +police supervision. After his release he married a respectable girl, +and tried to reform, but circumstances were against him; character he +had none, a gaol career only to recommend him, and so he and his wife +eventually drifted to destitution. They came to the Shelter, and asked +advice; they were received, and he made application to the sitting +Magistrate at Clerkenwell as to a situation, and what he ought to do. +The Magistrate helped him, and thanked the Salvation Army for its +efforts in behalf of him and such as he, and asked us to look after the +applicant. A little work was given him, and after a time a good +situation procured. To-day they have a good time; he is steadily +employed, and both are serving God, holding the respect and confidence +of neighbours, etc. + +E. G.--Came to England in the service of a family of position, +and afterwards was butler and upper servant in several houses of the +nobility. His health broke down, and for a long time he was altogether +unfit for work. He had saved a considerable sum of money, but the cost +of doctors and the necessaries of a sick man soon played havoc with his +little store, and he became reduced to penury and absolute want. +For some time he was in the Workhouse, and, being discharged, +he was advised to go to the Shelter. He was low in health as well as +in circumstances, and broken in spirit, almost despairing. He was +lovingly advised to cast his care upon God, and eventually he was +converted. After some time work was obtained as porter in a City +warehouse. Assiduity and faithfulness in a year raised him to the +position of traveller. Today he prospers in body and soul, retaining +the respect and confidence of all associated with him. + +We might multiply these records, but those given show the kind of +results attained. + +There's no reason to think that influences which have been blessed of +God to the salvation of these poor fellows will not be equally +efficacious if applied on a wider scale and over a vaster area. + +The thing to be noted in all these cases is that it was not the mere +feeding which effected the result; it was the combination of the +feeding with the personal labour for the individual soul. Still, if we +had not fed them, we should never have come near enough to gain any +hold upon their hearts. If we had merely fed them, they would have +gone away next day to resume, with increased energy, the predatory and +vagrant life which they had been leading. But when our feeding and +Shelter Depots brought them to close quarters, our officers were +literally able to put their arms round their necks and plead with them +as brethren who had gone astray. We told them that their sins and +sorrows had not shut them out from the love of the Everlasting Father, +who had sent us to them to help them with all the power of our strong +Organisation, of the Divine authority of which we never feel so sure as +when it is going forth to seek and to save the lost. + + +SECTION 2.--WORK FOR THE OUT-OF-WORKS.--THE FACTORY. + +The foregoing, it will be said, is all very well for your outcast when +he has got fourpence in his pocket, but what if he has not got his +fourpence? What if you are confronted with a crowd of hungry desperate +wretches, without even a penny in their pouch, demanding food and +shelter? This objection is natural enough, and has been duly +considered from the first. + +I propose to establish in connection with every Food and Shelter Depot +a Workshop or Labour Yard, in which any person who comes destitute and +starving will be supplied with sufficient work to enable him to earn +the fourpence needed for his bed and board. This is a fundamental +feature of the Scheme, and one which I think will commend it to all +those who are anxious to benefit the poor by enabling them to help +themselves without the demoralising intervention of charitable relief. + +Let us take our stand for a moment at the door of one of our Shelters. +There comes along a grimy, ragged, footsore tramp, his feet bursting +out from the sides of his shoes, his clothes all rags, with filthy +shirt and towselled hair. He has been, he tells you, on the tramp for +the last three weeks, seeking work and finding none, slept last night +on the Embankment, and wants to know if you can give him a bite and a +sup, and shelter for the night. Has he any money? Not he; he probably +spent the last penny he begged or earned in a pipe of tobacco, with +which to dull the cravings of his hungry stomach. What are you to do +with this man? + +Remember this is no fancy sketch--it is a typical case. There are +hundreds and thousands of such applicants. Any one who is at all +familiar with life in London and our other large towns, will recognise +that gaunt figure standing there asking for bread and shelter or for +work by which he can obtain both. What can we do with him? Before him +Society stands paralysed, quieting its conscience every now and then by +an occasional dole of bread and soup, varied with the semi-criminal +treatment of the Casual Ward, until the manhood is crushed out of the +man and you have in your hands a reckless, despairing, spirit-broken +creature, with not even an aspiration to rise above his miserable +circumstances, covered with vermin and filth, sinking ever lower and +lower, until at last he is hurried out of sight in the rough shell +which carries him to a pauper's grave. + +I propose to take that man, put a strong arm round him, and extricate +him from the mire in which he is all but suffocated. As a first step we +will say to him, "You are hungry, here is food; you are homeless, here +is a shelter for your head; but remember you must work for your +rations. This is not charity; it is work for the workless, help for +those who cannot help themselves. There is the labour shed, go and earn +your fourpence, and then come in out of the cold and the wet into the +warm shelter; here is your mug of coffee and your great chunk of bread, +and after you have finished these there is a meeting going on in full +swing with its joyful music and hearty human intercourse. There are +those who pray for you and with you, and will make you feel yourself a +brother among men. There is your shake-down on the floor, where you +will have your warm, quiet bed, undisturbed by the ribaldry and curses +with which you have been familiar too long. There is the wash-house, +where you can have a thorough wash-up at last, after all these days of +unwashedness. There is plenty of soap and warm water and clean towels; +there, too, you can wash your shirt and have it dried while you sleep. +In the morning when you get up there will be breakfast for you, +and your shirt will be dry and clean. Then when you are washed and +rested, and are no longer faint with hunger, you can go and seek a job, +or go back to the Labour shop until something better turns up." + +But where and how? + +Now let me introduce you to our Labour Yard. Here is no pretence +of charity beyond the charity which gives a man remunerative labour. +It is not our business to pay men wages. What we propose is to enable +those, male or female, who are destitute, to earn their rations and do +enough work to pay for their lodging until they are able to go out into +the world and earn wages for themselves. There is no compulsion upon +any one to resort to our shelter, but if a penniless man wants food he +must, as a rule, do work sufficient to pay for what he has of that and +of other accommodation. I say as a rule because, of course, our +Officers will be allowed to make exceptions in extreme cases, but the +rule will be first work then eat. And that amount of work will be +exacted rigorously. It is that which distinguishes this Scheme from +mere charitable relief. + +I do not wish to have any hand in establishing a new centre of +demoralisation. I do not want my customers to be pauperised by being +treated to anything which they do not earn. To develop self-respect in +the man, to make him feel that at last he has go this foot planted on +the first rung of the ladder which leads upwards, is vitally important, +and this cannot be done unless the bargain between him and me is +strictly carried out. So much coffee, so much bread, so much shelter, +so much warmth and light from me, but so much labour in return from +him. + +What labour? it is asked. For answer to this question I would like to +take you down to our Industrial Workshops in Whitechapel. There you +will see the Scheme in experimental operation. What we are doing there +we propose to do everywhere up to the extent of the necessity, and +there is no reason why we should fail elsewhere if we can succeed +there. + +Our Industrial Factory at Whitechapel was established this Spring. +We opened it on a very small scale. It has developed until we have +nearly ninety men at work. Some of these are skilled workmen who are +engaged in carpentry. The particular job they have now in hand is the +making of benches for the Salvation Army. Others are engaged in +mat-making, some are cobblers, others painters, and so forth. +This trial effort has, so far, answered admirably. No one who is taken +on comes for a permanency. So long as he is willing to work for his +rations he is supplied with materials and provided with skilled +superintendents. The hours of work are eight per day. Here are the +rules and regulations under which the work is carried on at present:- + +THE SALVATION ARMY SOCIAL REFORM WING. + +Temporary Headquarters-- +36, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C, + +CITY INDUSTRIAL WORKSHOPS. + +OBJECTS.--These workshops are open for the relief of the unemployed +and destitute, the object being to make it unnecessary for the homeless +or workless to be compelled to go to the Workhouse or Casual Ward, +food and shelter being provided for them in exchange for work done by +them, until they can procure work for themselves, or it can be found +for them elsewhere. + +PLAN OF OPERATION.--All those applying for assistance will be placed +in what is termed the first class. They must be willing to do any kind +of work allotted to them. While they remain in the first class, +they shall be entitled to three meals a day, and shelter for the night, +and will be expected in return to cheerfully perform the work allotted +to them. + +Promotions will be made from this first-class to the second-class of +all those considered eligible by the Labour Directors. They will, +in addition to the food and shelter above mentioned, receive sums of +money up to 5s. at the end of the week, for the purpose of assisting +them to provide themselves with tools, to get work outside. + +REGULATIONS.--No smoking, drinking, bad language, or conduct +calculated to demoralize will be permitted on the factory premises. +No one under the influence of drink will be admitted. Any one refusing +to work, or guilty of bad conduct, will be required to leave the +premises. + +HOURS OF WORK.--7 a.m. to 8.30 a.m.; 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; +2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m, Doors will be closed 5 minutes after 7, 9, +and 2 p.m. Food Checks will be given to all as they pass out at each +meal time. Meals and Shelter provided at 272, Whitechapel Road. + +Our practical experience shows that we can provide work by which a man +can earn his rations. We shall be careful not to sell the goods so +manufactured at less than the market prices. In firewood, for instance, +we have endeavoured to be rather above the average than below it. +As stated elsewhere, we are firmly opposed to injuring one class of +workmen while helping another. + +Attempts on somewhat similar lines to those now being described have +hitherto excited the liveliest feelings of jealousy on the part of the +Trade Unions, and representatives of labour. They rightly consider it +unfair that labour partly paid for out of the Rates and Taxes, or by +Charitable Contributions, should be put upon the market at less than +market value, and so compete unjustly with the production of those who +have in the first instance to furnish an important quota of the funds +by which these Criminal or Pauper workers are supported. No such +jealousy can justly exist in relation to our Scheme, seeing that we are +endeavouring to raise the standard of labour and are pledged to a war +to the death against sweating in every shape and form. + +But, it will be asked, how do these Out-of-Works conduct themselves +when you get them into the Factory? Upon this point I have a very +satisfactory report to render. Many, no doubt, are below par, +under-fed, and suffering from ill health, or the consequence of their +intemperance. Many also are old men, who have been crowded out of the +labour market by their younger generation. But, without making too +many allowances on these grounds, I may fairly say that these men have +shown themselves not only anxious and willing, but able to work. +Our Factory Superintendent reports:- + +Of loss or time there has practically been none since the opening, +June 29th. Each man during his stay, with hardly an exception, +has presented himself punctually at opening time and worked more or +less assiduously the whole of the labour hours. The morals of the men +have been good, in not more than three instances has there been an +overt act of disobedience, insubordination, or mischief. The men, as a +whole, are uniformly civil, willing, and satisfied; they are all fairly +industrious, some, and that not a few, are assiduous and energetic. +The Foremen have had no serious complaints to make or delinquencies to +report. + +On the 15th of August I had a return made of the names and trades and +mode of employment of the men at work. Of the forty in the shops at +that moment, eight were carpenters, twelve labourers, two tailors, +two sailors, three clerks, two engineers, while among the rest was a +shoemaker, two grocers, a cooper, a sailmaker, a musician, a painter, +and a stonemason. Nineteen of these were employed in sawing, cutting +and tying up firewood, six were making mats, seven making sacks, and +the rest were employed in various odd jobs. Among them was a Russian +carpenter who could not speak a word of English. The whole place is a +hive of industry which fills the hearts of those who go to see it with +hope that something is about to be done to solve the difficulty of the +unemployed. + +Although our Factories will be permanent institutions they will not be +anything more than temporary resting-places to those who avail +themselves of their advantages. They are harbours of refuge into which +the storm-tossed workman may run and re-fit, so that he may again push +out to the ordinary sea of labour and earn his living. +The establishment of these Industrial Factories seems to be one of the +most obvious duties of those who would effectually deal with the Social +Problem. They are as indispensable a link in the chain of deliverance +as the Shelters, but they are only a link and not a stopping-place. +And we do not propose that they should be regarded as anything but +stepping-stones to better things. + +These Shops will also be of service for men and women temporarily +unemployed who have families, and who possess some sort of a home. +In numerous instances, if by any means these unfortunates could find +bread and rent for a few weeks, they would tide over their +difficulties, and an untold amount of misery would be averted, In such +cases Work would be supplied at their own homes where preferred, +especially for the women and children, and such remuneration would be +aimed at as would supply the immediate necessities of the hour. +To those who have rent to pay and families to support something beyond +rations would be indispensable. + +The Labour Shops will enable us to work out our Anti-Sweating +experiments. For instance, we propose at once to commence manufacturing +match boxes, for which we shall aim at giving nearly treble the amount +at present paid to the poor starving creatures engaged in this work. + +In all these workshops our success will depend upon the extent to which +we are able to establish and maintain in the minds of the workers sound +moral sentiments and to cultivate a spirit of hopefulness and +aspiration. We shall continually seek to impress upon them the fact +that while we desire to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and +provide shelter for the shelterless, we are still more anxious to bring +about that regeneration of heart and life which is essential to their +future happiness and well-being. + +But no compulsion will for a moment be allowed with respect to religion. +The man who professes to love and serve God will be helped because of +such profession, and the man who does not will be helped in the hope +that he will, sooner or later, in gratitude to God, do the same; but +there will be no melancholy misery-making for any. There is no +sanctimonious long face in the Army. We talk freely about Salvation, +because it is to us the very light and joy of our existence. +We are happy, and we wish others to share our joy. We know by our own +experience that life is a very different thing when we have found the +peace of God, and are working together with Him for the salvation of +the world, instead of toiling for the realisation of worldly ambition +or the amassing of earthly gain. + + +SECTION 3.--THE REGIMENTATION OF THE UNEMPLOYED. + +When we have got the homeless, penniless tramp washed, and housed, +and fed at the Shelter, and have secured him the means of earning his +fourpence by chopping firewood, or making mats or cobbling the shoes of +his fellow-labourers at the Factory, we have next to seriously address +ourselves to the problem of how to help him to get back into the +regular ranks of industry. The Shelter and the Factory are but +stepping-stones, which have this advantage, they give us time to look +round and to see what there is in a man and what we can make of him. + +The first and most obvious thing to do is to ascertain whether there is +any demand in the regular market for the labour which is thus thrown +upon our hands. In order to ascertain this I have already established a +Labour Bureau, the operations of which I shall at once largely extend, +at which employers can register their needs, and workmen can register +their names and the kind of work they can do. + +At present there is no labour exchange in existence in this country. +The columns of the daily newspaper are the only substitute for this +much needed register. It is one of the many painful consequences +arising from the overgrowth of cities. In a village where everybody +knows everybody else this necessity does not exist. If a farmer wants +a couple of extra men for mowing or some more women for binding at +harvest time, he runs over in his mind the names of every available +person in the parish. Even in a small town there is little difficulty +in knowing who wants employment. But in the cities this knowledge is +not available; hence we constantly hear of persons who would be very +glad to employ labour for odd jobs in an occasional stress of work +while at the same time hundreds of persons are starving for want of +work at another end of the town. To meet this evil the laws of Supply +and Demand have created the Sweating Middlemen, who farm out the +unfortunates and charge so heavy a commission for their share that the +poor wretches who do the work receive hardly enough to keep body and +soul together. I propose to change all this by establishing Registers +which will enable us to lay our hands at a moment's notice upon all the +unemployed men in a district in any particular trade. In this way we +should become the universal intermediary between those who have no +employment and those who want workmen. + +In this we do not propose to supersede or interfere with the regular +Trade Unions. Where Unions exist we should place ourselves in every +case in communication with their officials. But the most helpless mass +of misery is to be found among the unorganised labourers who have no +Union, and who are, therefore, the natural prey of the middleman. +Take, for instance, one of the most wretched classes of the community, +the poor fellows who perambulate the streets as Sandwich Men. These +are farmed out by certain firms. If you wish to send fifty or a +hundred men through London carrying boards announcing the excellence of +your goods, you go to an advertising firm who will undertake to supply +you with as many sandwich men as you want for two shillings or half a +crown a day. The men are forthcoming, your goods are advertised, +you pay your money, but how much of that goes to the men? About one +shilling, or one shilling and threepence; the rest goes to the +middleman. I propose to supersede this middleman by forming a +Co-operative Association of Sandwich Men. At every Shelter there would +be a Sandwich Brigade ready in any numbers when wanted. The cost of +registration and organisation, which the men would gladly pay, need not +certainly amount to more than a penny in the shilling. + +All that is needed is to establish a trustworthy and disinterested +centre round which the unemployed can group themselves, and which will +form the nucleus of a great Co-operative Self-helping Association. The +advantages of such a Bureau are obvious. But in this, also, I do not +speak from theory. I have behind me the experience of seven months of +labour both in England and Australia. In London we have a registration +office in Upper Thames Street, where the unemployed come every morning +in droves to register their names and to see whether they can obtain +situations. In Australia, I see, it was stated in the House of +Assembly that our Officers had been instrumental in finding situations +for no less than one hundred and thirty-two "Out-of-Works" in a few +days. Here, in London, we have succeeded in obtaining employment for a +great number, although, of course, it is beyond our power to help all +those who apply. We have sent hay-makers down to the country and there +is every reason to believe that when our Organisation is better known, +and in more extended operation, we shall have a great labour exchange +between town and country, so that when there is scarcity in one place +and congestion in another, there will be information immediately sent, +so that the surplus labour can be drafted into those districts where +labour is wanted. For instance, in the harvest seasons, +with changeable weather, it is quite a common occurrence for the crops +to be seriously damaged for want of labourers, while at the same time +there will be thousands wandering about in the big towns and cities +seeking work, but finding no one to hire them. Extend this system all +over the world, and make it not only applicable to the transfer of +workers between the towns and the provinces, but between Country and +Country, and it is impossible to exaggerate the enormous advantages +which would result. The officer in charge of our experimental Labour +Bureau sends me the following notes as to what has already been done +through the agency of the Upper Thames Street office: + +SALVATION ARMY SOCIAL REFORM WING. + +LABOR BUREAU. + +Bureau opened June 16th, 1890. The following are particulars of +transactions up to September 26th, 1890: -- + + Applications for employment--Men .. .. 2462 + Women .. 208 + ----- 2670 + ==== + + Applications from Employers for Men .. 128 + Women .. 59 + ----- 187 + ==== + + Sent to Work--Men .. .. .. .. .. 301 + Women .. .. .. .. 68 + ---- 369 + ==== + + Permanent Situations .. .. .. .. .. 146 + + Temporary Employment, + viz: --Boardmen, Cleaners, &c., &c .. .. 223 + + Sent to Workshop in Hanbury Street .. .. 165 + ==== + + +SECTION 4.--THE HOUSEHOLD SALVAGE BRIGADE. + +It is obvious that the moment you begin to find work for the unemployed +labour of the community, no matter what you do by way of the +registration and bringing together of those who want work and those who +want workers, there will still remain a vast residuum of unemployed, +and it will be the duty of those who undertake to deal with the +question to devise means for securing them employment. Many things are +possible when there is a directing intelligence at headquarters and +discipline in the rank and file, which would be utterly impossible when +everyone is left to go where he pleases, when ten men are running for +one man's job, and when no one can be depended upon to be in the way at +the time he is wanted. When my Scheme is carried out, there will be in +every populous centre a Captain of Industry, an Officer specially +charged with the regimentation of unorganised labour, who would be +continually on the alert, thinking how best to utilise the waste human +material in his district. It is contrary to all previous experience to +suppose that the addition of so much trained intelligence will not +operate beneficially in securing the disposal of a commodity which is +at present a drug in the market. + +Robertson, of Brighton, used frequently to remark that every truth was +built up of two apparent contradictory propositions. In the same way I +may say that the solution of every social difficulty is to be found in +the discovery of two corresponding difficulties. It is like the puzzle +maps of children. When you are putting one together, you suddenly come +upon some awkward piece that will not fit in anywhere, but you do not +in disgust and despair break your piece into fragments or throw it +away. On the contrary, you keep it by you, knowing that before long +you will discover a number of other pieces which it will be impossible +to fit in until you fix your unmanageable, unshapely piece in the +centre. Now, in the work of piecing together the fragments which lie +scattered around the base of our social system we must not despair +because we have in the unorganised, untrained labourers that which +seems hopelessly out of fit with everything around. There must be +something corresponding to it which is equally useless until he can be +brought to bear upon it. In other words, having got one difficulty in +the case of the Out-of-Works, we must cast about to find another +difficulty to pair off against it, and then out of two difficulties +will arise the solution of the problem. + +We shall not have far to seek before we discover in every town and in +every country the corresponding element to our unemployed labourer. +We have waste labour on the one hand; we have waste commodities on the +other. About waste land I shall speak in the next chapter; +I am concerned now solely with waste commodities. Herein we have a +means of immediately employing a large number of men under conditions +which will enable us to permanently provide for many of those whose +hard lot we are now considering. + +I propose to establish in every large town what I may call "A Household +Salvage Brigade," a civil force of organised collectors, who will +patrol the whole town as regularly as the policeman, who will have +their appointed beats, and each of whom will been trusted with the task +of collecting the waste of the houses in their circuit. In small towns +and villages this is already done, and it will be noticed that most of +the suggestions which I have put forth in this book are based upon the +central principle, which is that of restoring; to the over-grown, and, +therefore, uninformed masses of population in our towns the same +intelligence and co-operation as to the mutual wants of each and all, +that prevails in your small town or village. The latter is the +manageable unit, because its dimensions and its needs have not +out-grown the range of the individual intelligence and ability of those +who dwell therein. Our troubles in large towns arise chiefly from the +fact that the massing of population has caused the physical bulk of +Society to outgrow its intelligence. It is as if a human being had +suddenly developed fresh limbs which were not connected by any nervous +system with the gray matter of his brain. Such a thing is impossible +in the human being, but, unfortunately, it is only too possible in +human society. In the human body no member can suffer without an +instantaneous telegram being despatched, as it were, to the seat of +intelligence; the foot or the finger cries out when it suffers, and the +whole body suffers with it. So, in a small community, every one, rich +and poor, is more or less cognizant of the sufferings of the community. +In a large town, where people have ceased to be neighbourly, there is +only a congested mass of population settled down on a certain small +area without any human ties connecting them together. Here, it is +perfectly possible, and it frequently happens, that men actually die of +starvation within a few doors of those who, if they had been informed +of the actual condition of the sufferer that lay within earshot of +their comfortable drawing-rooms, would have been eager to minister the +needed relief. What we have to do, therefore, is to grow a new nervous +system for the body politic, to create a swift, almost automatic, means +of communication between the community as a whole and the meanest of +its members, so as to restore to the city what the village possesses. + +I do not say that the plan which I have suggested is the only plan or +the best plan conceivable. All that I claim for it is that it is the +only plan which I can conceive as practicable at the present moment, +and that, as a matter of fact, it holds the field alone, for no one, +so far as I have been able to discover, even proposes to reconstitute +the connection between what I have called the gray matter of the brain +of the municipal community and all the individual units which make up +the body politic. + +Carrying out the same idea I come to the problem of the waste +commodities of the towns, and we will take this as an earnest of the +working out of the general principle. In the villages there is very +little waste. The sewage is applied directly to the land, and so +becomes a source of wealth instead of being emptied into great +subterranean reservoirs, to generate poisonous gases, which by a most +ingenious arrangement, are then poured forth into the very heart of our +dwellings, as is the case in the great cities. Neither is there any +waste of broken victuals. The villager has his pig or his poultry, or +if he has not a pig his neighbour has one, and the collection of broken +victuals is conducted as regularly as the delivery of the post. And as +it is with broken victuals, so it is with rags and bones, and old iron, +and all the debris of a household. When I was a boy one of the most +familiar figures in the streets of a country town was the man, who, +with his small hand-barrow or donkey-cart, made a regular patrol +through all the streets once a week, collecting rags, bones, and all +other waste materials, buying the same from the juveniles who collected +them in specie, not of Her Majesty's current coin, but of common +sweetmeats, known as "claggum" or "taffy." When the tootling of his +familiar horn was heard the children would bring out their stores, and +trade as best they could with the itinerant merchant, with the result +that the closets which in our towns to-day have become the receptacles +of all kinds of, disused lumber were kept then swept and garnished. +Now, what I want to know is why can we not establish on a scale +commensurate with our extended needs the rag-and-bone industry in all +our great towns? That there is sufficient to pay for the collection is, +I think, indisputable. If it paid in a small North-country town or +Midland village, why would it not pay much better in an area where the +houses stand more closely together, and where luxurious living and +thriftless habits have so increased that there must be proportionately +far more breakage, more waste, and, therefore, more collectable matter +than in the rural districts? In looking over the waste of London it has +occurred to me that in the debris of our households there is sufficient +food, it utilised, to feed many of the starving poor, and to employ +some thousands of them in its collection, and, in addition, largely to +assist the general scheme. What I propose would be to go to work on +something like the following plan:- + +London would be divided into districts, beginning with that portion of +it most likely to furnish the largest supplies of what would be worth +collection. Two men, or a man and a boy, would be told of for this +purpose to this district. + +Households would be requested to allow a receptacle to be placed in +some convenient spot in which the servants could deposit the waste +food, and a sack of some description would also be supplied for the +paper, rags, &c. + +The whole would be collected, say once or twice a week, or more +frequently, according to the season and circumstances, and transferred +to depots as central as possible to the different districts. + +At present much of this waste is thrown into the dust-bin, there to +fester and breed disease. Then there are old newspapers, ragged books, +old bottles, tins, canisters, etc. We all know what a number of +articles there are which are not quite bad enough to be thrown into the +dust heap, and yet are no good to us. We put them on one side, +hoping that something may turn up, and as that something very seldom +does turn up, there they remain. + +Crippled musical instruments, for instance, old toys, broken-down +perambulators, old clothes, all the things, in short, for which we have +no more need, and for which there is no market within our reach, but +which we feel it would be a sin and a shame to destroy. + +When I get my Household Salvage Brigade properly organised, beginning, +as I said, in some district where we should be likely to meet with most +material, our uniformed collectors would call every other day or twice +a week with their hand barrow or pony cart. As these men would be +under strict discipline, and numbered, the householder would have a +security against any abuse of which such regular callers might +otherwise be the occasion. + +At present the rag and bone man who drives a more or less precarious +livelihood by intermittent visits, is looked upon askance by prudent +housewives. They fear in many cases he takes the refuse in order to +have the opportunity of finding something which may be worth while +"picking up," and should he be impudent or negligent there is no +authority to whom they can appeal. Under our Brigade, each district +would have its numbered officer, who would himself be subordinate to a +superior officer, to whom any complaints could be made, and whose duty +it would be to see that the officers under his command punctually +performed their rounds and discharged their duties without offence. + +Here let me disclaim any intention of interfering with the Little +Sisters of the Poor, or any other persons, who collect the broken +victuals of hotels and other establishments for charitable purposes. +My object is not to poach on my neighbour's domains, nor shall I ever +be a party to any contentious quarrels for the control of this or that +source of supply. All that is already utilised I regard as outside my +sphere. The unoccupied wilderness of waste is a wide enough area for +the operations of our Brigade. But it will be found in practice that +there are no competing agencies. While the broken victuals of certain +large hotels are regularly collected, the things before enumerated, +and a number of others, are untouched because not sought after. + +Of the immense extent to which Food is wasted few people have any +notion except those who have made actual experiments. Some years ago, +Lady Wolseley established a system of collection from house to house in +Mayfair, in order to secure materials for a charitable kitchen which, +in concert with Baroness Burdett-Coutts, she had started at +Westminster. The amount of the food which she gathered was enormous. +Sometimes legs of mutton from which only one or two slices had been cut +were thrown into the tub, where they waited for the arrival of the cart +on its rounds. It is by no means an excessive estimate to assume that +the waste of the kitchens of the West End would provide a sufficient +sustenance for all the Out-of-Works who will be employed in our labour +sheds at the industrial centres. All that it needs is collection, +prompt, systematic, by disciplined men who can be relied upon to +discharge their task with punctuality and civility, and whose failure +in this duty can be directly brought to the attention of the +controlling authority. + +Of the utilisation of much of the food which is to be so collected I +shall speak hereafter, when I come to describe the second great +division of my scheme, namely the Farm Colony. Much of the food +collected by the Household Salvage Brigade would not be available for +human consumption. In this the greatest care would be exercised, +and the remainder would be dispatched, if possible, by barges down the +river to the Farm Colony, where we shall meet it hereafter. + +But food is only one of the materials which we should handle. At our +Whitechapel Factory there is one shoemaker whom we picked off the +streets destitute and miserable. He is now saved, and happy, and +cobbles away at the shoe leather of his mates. That shoemaker, I +foresee, is but the pioneer of a whole army of shoemakers constantly at +work in repairing the cast-off boots and shoes of London. Already in +some provincial towns a great business is done by the conversion of old +shoes into new. They call the men so employed translators. Boots and +shoes, as every wearer of them knows, do not go to pieces all at once +or in all parts at once. The sole often wears out utterly, while the +upper leather is quite good, or the upper leather bursts while the sole +remains practically in a salvable condition; but your individual pair +of shoes and boots are no good to you when any section of them is +hopelessly gone to the bad. But give our trained artist in leather and +his army of assistants a couple of thousand pairs of boots and shoes, +and it will go ill with him if out of the couple of thousand pairs of +wrecks he cannot construct five hundred pairs, which, if not quite +good, will be immeasurably better than the apologies for boots which +cover the feet of many a poor tramp, to say nothing of the thousands of +poor children who are at the present moment attending our public +schools. In some towns they have already established a Boot and Shoe +Fund in order to provide the little ones who come to school with shoes +warranted not to let in water between the school house and home. When +you remember the 43,000 children who are reported by the School Board +to attend the schools of London alone unfed and starving, do you not +think there are many thousands to whom we could easily dispose, with +advantage, the resurrected shoes of our Boot Factory? + +This, however, is only one branch of industry. Take old umbrellas. +We all know the itinerant umbrella mender, whose appearance in the +neighbourhood of the farmhouse leads the good wife to look after her +poultry and to see well to it that the watchdog is on the premises. +But that gentleman is almost the only agency by which old umbrellas can +be rescued from the dust heap. Side by side with our Boot Factory we +shall have a great umbrella works. The ironwork of one umbrella will +be fitted to the stick of another, and even from those that are too +hopelessly gone for any further use as umbrellas we shall find plenty +of use for their steels and whalebone. + +So I might go on. Bottles are a fertile source of minor domestic +worry. When you buy a bottle you have to pay a penny for it; but when +you have emptied it you cannot get a penny back; no, nor even a +farthing. You throw your empty bottle either into the dust heap, +or let it lie about. But if we could collect all the waste bottles of +London every day, it would go hardly with us if we could not turn a +very pretty penny by washing them, sorting them, and sending them out +on a new lease of life. The washing of old bottles alone will keep a +considerable number of people going. + +I can imagine the objection which will be raised by some shortsighted +people, that by giving the old, second-hand material a new lease of +life it will be said that we shall diminish the demand for new +material, and so curtail work and wages at one end while we are +endeavouring to piece on something at the other. This objection reminds +me of a remark of a North Country pilot who, when speaking of the +dulness in the shipbuilding industry, said that nothing would do any +good but a series of heavy storms, which would send a goodly number of +ocean-going steamers to the bottom, to replace which, this political +economist thought, the yards would once more be filled with orders. +This, however, is not the way in which work is supplied. Economy is a +great auxiliary to trade, inasmuch as the money saved is expended on +other products of industry. + +There is one material that is continually increasing in quantity, which +is the despair of the life of the householder and of the Local Sanitary +Authority. I refer to the tins in which provisions are supplied. +Nowadays everything comes to us in tins. We have coffee tins, +meat tins, salmon tins, and tins ad nauseam. Tin is becoming more and +more the universal envelope of the rations of man. But when you have +extracted the contents of the tin what can you do with it? +Huge mountains of empty tins lie about every dustyard, for as yet no +man has discovered a means of utilising them when in great masses. +Their market price is about four or five shillings a ton, but they are +so light that it would take half a dozen trucks to hold a ton. +They formerly burnt them for the sake of the solder, but now, by a new +process, they are jointed without solder. The problem of the +utilisation of the tins is one to which we would have to address +ourselves, and I am by no means desponding as to the result. + +I see in the old tins of London at least one means of establishing an +industry which is at present almost monopolised by our neighbours. +Most of the toys which are sold in France on New Year's Day are almost +entirely made of sardine tins collected in the French capital. The toy +market of England is at present far from being overstocked, for there +are multitudes of children who have no toys worth speaking of with +which to amuse themselves. In these empty tins I see a means of +employing a large number of people in turning out cheap toys which will +add a new joy to the households of the poor--the poor to whom every +farthing is important, not the rich the rich can always get toys--but +the children of the poor, who live in one room and have nothing to look +out upon but the slum or the street. These desolate little things need +our toys, and if supplied cheap enough they will take them in +sufficient quantities to make it worth while to manufacture them. + +A whole book might be written concerning the utilisation of the waste +of London. But I am not going to write one. I hope before long to do +something much better than write a book, namely, to establish an +organisation to utilise the waste, and then if I describe what is being +done it will be much better than by now explaining what I propose to do. +But there is one more waste material to which it is necessary to allude. +I refer to old newspapers and magazines, and books. +Newspapers accumulate in our houses until we sometimes burn them in +sheer disgust. Magazines and old books lumber our shelves until we +hardly know where to turn to put a new volume. My Brigade will relieve +the householder from these difficulties, and thereby become a great +distributing agency of cheap literature. After the magazine has done +its duty in the middle class household it can be passed on to the +reading-rooms, workhouses, and hospitals. Every publication issued +from the Press that is of the slightest use to men and women will, +by our Scheme, acquire a double share of usefulness. It will be read +first by its owner, and then by many people who would never otherwise +see it. + +We shall establish an immense second-hand book shop. All the best +books that come into our hands will be exposed for sale, not merely at +our central depots, but on the barrows of our peripatetic colporteurs, +who will go from street to street with literature which, I trust, will +be somewhat superior to the ordinary pabulum supplied to the poor. +After we have sold all we could, and given away all that is needed to +public institutions, the remainder will be carried down to our great +Paper Mill, of which we shall speak later, in connection with our Farm +Colony. + +The Household Salvage Brigade will constitute an agency capable of +being utilised to any extent for the distribution of parcels +newspapers, &c. When once you have your reliable man who will call at +every house with the regularity of a postman, and go his beat with the +punctuality of a policeman, you can do great things with him. I do not +need to elaborate this point. It will be a universal Corps of +Commissionaires, created for the service of the public and in the +interests of the poor, which will bring us into direct relations with +every family in London, and will therefore constitute an unequalled +medium for the distribution of advertisements and the collection of +information. + +It does not require a very fertile imagination to see that when such a +house-to-house visitation is regularly established, it will develop in +all directions; and working, as it would, in connection with our +Anti-sweating Shops and Industrial Colony, would probably soon become +the medium for negotiating sundry household repairs, from a broken +window to a damaged stocking. If a porter were wanted to move +furniture, or a woman wanted to do charing, or some one to clean +windows or any other odd job, the ubiquitous Servant of All who called +for the waste, either verbally or by postcard, would receive the order, +and whoever was wanted would appear at the time desired without any +further trouble on the part of the householder. + +One word as to the cost. There are five hundred thousand houses in the +Metropolitan Police district. To supply every house with a tub and a +sack for the reception of waste would involve an initial expenditure +which could not possibly be less than one shilling a house. So huge is +London, and so enormous the numbers with which we shall have to deal, +that this simple preliminary would require a cost of #25,000. +Of course I do not propose to begin on anything like such a vast scale. +That sum, which is only one of the many expenditures involved, will +serve to illustrate the extent of the operations which the Household +Salvage Brigade will necessitate. The enterprise is therefore beyond +the reach of any but a great and powerful organisation, commanding +capital and able to secure loyalty, discipline, and willing service. + + +CHAPTER 3. TO THE COUNTRY!--THE FARM COLONY. + +A leave on one side for a moment various features of the operations +which will be indispensable but subsidiary to the City Colony, such as +the Rescue Homes for Lost Women, the Retreats for Inebriates, the Homes +for Discharged Prisoners, the Enquiry Office for the Discovery of Lost +Friends and Relatives, and the Advice Bureau, which will, in time, +become an institution that will be invaluable as a poor man's Tribune. +All these and other suggestions for saving the lost and helping the +poor, although they form essential elements of the City Colony, will be +better dealt with after I have explained the relation which the Farm +Colony will occupy to the City Colony, and set forth the way in which +the former will act as a feeder to the Colony Over sea. + +I have already described how I propose to deal, in the first case, with +the mass of surplus labour which will infallibly accumulate on our +hands as soon as the Shelters are more extensively established and in +good working order. But I fully recognise that when all has been done +that can be done in the direction of disposing of the unhired men and +women of the town, there will still remain many whom you can neither +employ in the Household Salvage Brigade, nor for whom employers, +be they registered never so carefully, can be found. What, then, must +be done with them? The answer to that question seems to me obvious. +They must go upon the land! + +The land is the source of all food; only by the application of labour +can the land be made fully productive. There is any amount of waste +land in the world, not far away in distant Continents, next door to the +North Pole, but here at our very doors. Have you ever calculated, +for instance, the square miles of unused land which fringe the sides of +all our railroads? No doubt some embankments are of material that +would baffle the cultivating skill at a Chinese or the careful +husbandry of a Swiss mountaineer; but these are exceptions. When other +people talk of reclaiming Salisbury Plain, or of cultivating the bare +moorlands of the bleak North, I think of the hundreds of square miles +of land that lie in long ribbons on the side of each of our railways, +upon which, without any cost for cartage, innumerable tons of City +manure could be shot down, and the crops of which could be carried at +once to the nearest market without any but the initial cost of heaping +into convenient trucks. These railway embankments constitute a vast +estate, capable of growing fruit enough to supply all the jam that +Crosse and Blackwell ever boiled. In almost every county in England +are vacant farms, and, in still greater numbers, farms but a quarter +cultivated, which only need the application of an industrious +population working with due incentive to produce twice, thrice, +and four times as much as they yield to-day. + +I am aware that there are few subjects upon which there are such fierce +controversies as the possibilities of making a livelihood out of small +holdings, but Irish cottiers do it, and in regions infinitely worse +adapted for the purpose than our Essex corn lands, and possessing none +of the advantages which civilization and co-operation place at the +command of an intelligently directed body of husbandmen. Talk about +the land not being worth cultivating! Go to the Swiss Valleys and +examine for yourself the miserable patches of land, hewed out as it +were from the heart of the granite mountains, where the cottager grows +his crops and makes a livelihood. No doubt he has his Alp, where his +cows pasture in summer-time, and his other occupations which enable him +to supplement the scanty yield of his farm garden among the crags; +but if it pays the Swiss mountaineer in the midst of the eternal snows, +far removed from any market, to cultivate such miserable soil in the +brief summer of the high Alps, it is impossible to believe that +Englishmen, working on English soil, close to our markets and enjoying +all the advantages of co-operation, cannot earn their daily bread by +their daily toil. The soil of England is not unkindly, and although +much is said against our climate, it is, as Mr. Russell Lowell +observes, after a lengthened experience of many countries and many +climes, "the best climate in the whole world for the labouring man." +There are more days in the English year on which a man can work out of +doors with a spade with comparative comfort than in any other country +under heaven. I do not say that men will make a fortune out of the +land, nor do I pretend that we can, under the grey English skies, +hope ever to vie with the productiveness of the Jersey farms; but I am +prepared to maintain against all comers that it is possible for an +industrious man to grow his rations, provided he is given a spade with +which to dig and land to dig in. Especially will this be the case with +intelligent direction and the advantages of co-operation. + +Is it not a reasonable supposition? It always seems to me a strange +thing that men should insist that you must first transport your +labourer thousands of miles to a desolate, bleak country in order to +set him to work to extract a livelihood from the soil when hundreds of +thousands of acres lie only half tilled at home or not tilled at all. +Is it reasonable to think that you can only begin to make a living out +of land when it lies several thousand miles from the nearest market, +and thousands of miles from the place where the labourer has to buy his +tools and procure all the necessaries of life which are not grown on +the spot? If a man can make squatting pay on the prairies or in +Australia, where every quarter of grain which he produces has to be +dragged by locomotives across the railways of the continent, and then +carried by steamers across the wide ocean, can he not equally make the +operation at least sufficiently profitable to keep himself alive if you +plant him with the same soil within an hour by rail of the greatest +markets in the world? + +The answer to this is, that you cannot give your man as much soil as he +has on the prairies or in the Canadian lumber lands. This, no doubt, +is true, but the squatter who settles in the Canadian backwoods does +not clear his land all at once. He lives on a small portion of it, +and goes on digging and delving little by little, until, after many +years of Herculean labour, he hews out for himself, and his children +after him, a freehold estate. Freehold estates, I admit, are not to be +had for the picking up on English soil, but if a man will but work in +England as they work in Canada or in Australia, he will find as little +difficulty in making a livelihood here as there. + +I may be wrong, but when I travel abroad and see the desperate struggle +on the part of peasant proprietors and the small holders in mountainous +districts for an additional patch of soil, the idea of cultivating +which would make our agricultural labourers turn up their noses in +speechless contempt, I cannot but think that our English soil could +carry a far greater number of souls to the acre than that which it +bears at present. Suppose, for instance, that Essex were suddenly to +find itself unmoored from its English anchorage and towed across the +Channel to Normandy, or, not to imagine miracles, suppose that an +Armada of Chinese were to make a descent on the Isle of Thanet, as did +the sea-kings, Hengist and Horsa, does anyone imagine for a moment that +Kent, fertile and cultivated as it is, would not be regarded as a very +Garden of Eden out of the odd corners of which our yellow-skinned +invaders would contrive to extract sufficient to keep themselves in +sturdy health? I only suggest the possibility in order to bring out +clearly the fact that the difficulty is not in the soil nor in the +climate, but in the lack of application of sufficient labour to +sufficient land in the truly scientific way. + +"What is the scientific way?" I shall be asked impatiently. I am not +an agriculturist; I do not dogmatize. I have read much from many pens, +and have noted the experiences of many colonies, and I have learned the +lesson that it is in the school of practical labour that the most +valuable knowledge is to be obtained. Nevertheless, the bulk of my +proposals are based upon the experience of many who have devoted their +lives to the study of the subject, and have been endorsed by +specialists whose experience gives them authority to speak with +unquestioning confidence. + + +SECTION 1.--THE FARM PROPER. + +My present idea is to take an estate from five hundred to a thousand +acres within reasonable distance of London. It should be of such land +as will be suitable for market gardening, while having some clay on it +for brick-making and for crops requiring a heavier soil. If possible, +it should not only be on a line of railway which is managed by +intelligent and progressive directors, but it should have access to the +sea and to the river. It should be freehold land, and it should lie at +some considerable distance from any town or village. The reason for +the latter desideratum is obvious. We must be near London for the sake +of our market and for the transmission of the commodities collected by +our Household Salvage Brigade, but it must be some little distance from +any town or village in order that the Colony may be planted clear out +in the open away from the public house, that upas tree of civilisation. +A sine qua non of the new Farm Colony is that no intoxicating liquors +will be permitted within its confines on any pretext whatever. +The doctors will have to prescribe some other stimulant than alcohol +for residents in this Colony. But it will be little use excluding +alcohol with a strong hand and by cast-iron regulations if the +Colonists have only to take a short walk in order to find themselves in +the midst of the "Red Lions," and the "Blue Dragons," and the +"George the Fourths," which abound in every country town. + +Having obtained the land I should proceed to prepare it for the +Colonists. This is an operation which is essentially the same in any +country. You need water supply, provisions and shelter. All this +would be done at first in the simplest possible style. Our pioneer +brigade, carefully selected from the competent Out-of-Works in the City +Colony, would be sent down to layout the estate and prepare it for +those who would come after. And here let me say that it is a great +delusion to imagine that in the riffraff and waste of the labour market +there are no workmen to be had except those that are worthless. +Worthless under the present conditions, exposed to constant temptations +to intemperance no doubt they are, but some of the brightest men in +London, with some of the smartest pairs of hands, and the cleverest +brains, are at the present moment weltering helplessly in the sludge +from which we propose to rescue them. + +I am not speaking without book in this matter. Some of my best +Officers to-day have been even such as they. There is an infinite +potentiality of capacity lying latent in our Provincial Tap-rooms and +the City Gin Palaces if you can but get them soundly saved, and even +short of that, if you can place them in conditions where they would no +longer be liable to be sucked back into their old disastrous habits, +you may do great things with them. + +I can well imagine the incredulous laughter which will greet my proposal. +"What," it will be said, "do you think that you can create agricultural +pioneers out of the scum of Cockneydom?" Let us look for a moment at +the ingredients which make up what you call "the scum of Cockneydom." +After careful examination and close cross-questioning of the +Out-of-Works, whom we have already registered at our Labour Bureau, +we find that at least sixty per cent. are country folk, men, women, +boys, and girls, who have left their homes in the counties to come up +to town in the hope of bettering themselves. They are in no sense of +the word Cockneys, and they represent not the dregs of the country but +rather its brighter and more adventurous spirits who have boldly tried +to make their way in new and uncongenial spheres and have terribly come +to grief. Of thirty cases, selected haphazard, in the various Shelters +during the week ending July 5th, 1890, twenty-two were country-born, +sixteen were men who had come up a long time ago, but did not ever seem +to have settled to regular employ, and four were old military men. +Of sixty cases examined into at the Bureau and Shelters during the +fortnight ending August 2nd, forty-two were country people; twenty-six +men who had been in London for various periods; ranging from six months +to four years; nine were lads under eighteen, who had run away from +home and come up to town; while four were ex-military. Of eighty-five +cases of dossers who were spoken to at night when they slept in the +streets, sixty-three were country people. A very small proportion of +the genuine homeless Out-of-Works are Londoners bred and born. + +There is another element in the matter, the existence of which will be +news to most people, and that is the large proportion of ex-military +men who are among the helpless, hopeless destitute. Mr. Arnold White, +after spending many months in the streets of London interrogating more +than four thousand men whom he found in the course of one bleak winter +sleeping out of doors like animals returns it as his conviction that at +least 20 per cent. are Army Reserve men. Twenty per cent! That is to +say one man in every five with whom we shall have to deal has served +Her Majesty the Queen under the colours. This is the resource to which +these poor fellows come after they have given the prime of their lives +to the service of their country. Although this may be largely brought +about by their own thriftless and evil conduct, it is a scandal and +disgrace which may well make the cheek of the patriot tingle. +Still, I see in it a great resource. A man who has been in the Queen's +Army is a man who has learnt to obey. He is further a man who has been +taught in the roughest of rough schools to be handy and smart, to make +the best of the roughest fare, and not to consider himself a martyr if +he is sent on a forlorn hope. I often say if we could only get +Christians to have one-half of the practical devotion and sense of duty +that animates even the commonest Tommy Atkins what a change would be +brought about in the world! + +Look at poor Tommy! A country lad who gets himself into some scrape, +runs away from home, finds himself sinking lower and lower, with no +hope of employment, no friends to advise; him, and no one to give him a +helping hand. In sheer despair he takes the Queen's shilling and +enters the ranks. He is handed over to an inexorable drill sergeant, +he is compelled to room in barracks where privacy is unknown, to mix +with men, many of them vicious, few of them companions whom he would of +his own choice select. He gets his rations, and although he is told he +will get a shilling a day, there are so many stoppages that he often +does not finger a shilling a week. He is drilled and worked and +ordered hither and thither as if he were a machine, all of which he +takes cheerfully, without even considering that there is any hardship +in his lot, plodding on in a dull, stolid kind of way for his Queen and +his country, doing his best, also, poor chap, to be proud of his red +uniform, and to cultivate his self-respect by reflecting that he is one +of the defenders of his native land, one of the heroes upon whose +courage and endurance depends the safety of the British realm. + +Some fine day at the other end of the world some prancing pro-consul +finds it necessary to smash one of the man-slaying machines that loom +ominous on his borders, or some savage potentate makes an incursion +into territory of a British colony, or some fierce outburst of +Mahommedan fanaticism raises up a Mahdi in mid-Africa. In a moment +Tommy Atkins is marched off to the troop-ship, and swept across the +seas, heart-sick and sea-sick, and miserable exceedingly, to tight the +Queen's enemies in foreign parts. When he arrives there he is bundled +ashore, brigaded with other troops, marched to the front through the +blistering glare of a tropical sun over poisonous marshes in which his +comrades sicken and die, until at last he is drawn up in square to +receive the charge of tens of thousands of ferocious savages. +Far away from all who love him or care for him, foot-sore and travel +weary, having eaten perhaps but a piece of dry bread in the last +twenty-four hours, he must stand up and kill or be killed. Often he +falls beneath the thrust of an assegai or the slashing broadsword of +the charging enemy. Then, after the fight is over his comrades turn up +the sod where he lies, bundle his poor bones into the shallow pit, +and leave him without even a cross to mark his solitary grave. +Perhaps he is fortunate and escapes. Yet Tommy goes uncomplainingly +through all these hardships and privations, does not think himself +a martyr, takes no fine airs about what he has done and suffered, +and shrinks uncomplainingly into our Shelters and our Factories, only +asking as a benediction from heaven that someone will give him an +honest job of work to do. That is the fate of Tommy Atkins. If in our +churches and chapels as much as one single individual were to bear and +dare, for the benefit of his kind and the salvation of men, what a +hundred thousand Tommy Atkins' bear uncomplainingly, taking it all as +if it were in the day's work, for their rations and their shilling a +day (with stoppages), think you we should not transform the whole face +of the world? Yea, verily. We find but very little of such devotion; +no, not in Israel. + +I look forward to making great use of these Army Reserve men. +There are engineers amongst them; there are artillery men and infantry; +there are cavalry men, who know what a horse needs to keep him in good +health, and men of the transport department, for whom I shall find work +enough to do in the transference of the multitudinous waste of London +from our town Depots to the outlying Farm. This, however, is a +digression, by the way. + +After having got the Farm into some kind of ship-shape, we should +select from the City Colonies all those who were likely to be +successful as our first settlers. These would consist of men who had +been working so many weeks or days in the Labour Factory, or had been +under observation for a reasonable time at the Shelters or in the +Slums, and who had given evidence of their willingness to work, their +amenity to discipline, and their ambition to improve themselves. +On arrival at the Farm they would be installed in a barracks, and at +once told off to work. In winter time there would be draining, +and road-making, and fencing, and many other forms of industry which +could go on when the days are short and the nights are long. +In Spring, Summertime and Autumn, some would be employed on the land, +chiefly in spade husbandry, upon what is called the system of +"intensive" agriculture, such as prevails in the suburbs of Paris, +where the market gardeners literally create the soil, and which yields +much greater results than when you merely scratch the surface with a +plough. + +Our Farm, I hope, would be as productive as a great market garden. +There would be a Superintendent on the Colony, who would be a practical +gardener, familiar with the best methods of small agriculture, +and everything that science and experience shows to be needful for the +profitable treatment of the land. Then there would be various other +forms of industry continually in progress, so that employment could be +furnished, adapted to the capacity and skill of every Colonist. +Where farm buildings are wanted, the Colonists must erect them +themselves. If they want glass houses, they must put them up. +Everything on the Estate must be the production of the Colonists. +Take, for instance, the building of cottages. After the first +detachment has settled down into its quarters and brought the fields +somewhat into cultivation, there will arise a demand for houses. +These houses must be built, and the bricks made; by the Colonists +themselves. All the carpentering and the joinery will be done on the +premises, and by this means a sustained demand for work will be +created. Then there would be furniture, clothing, and a great many +other wants, the supply of the whole of which would create labour which +the Colonists must perform. + +For a long time to come the Salvation Army will be able to consume all +the vegetables and crops which the Colonies will produce. That is one +advantage of being connected with so great and growing a concern; +the right hand will help the left, and we shall be able to do many +things which those who devote themselves exclusively to colonisation +would find it impossible to accomplish. We have seen the large +quantities of provisions which are required to supply the Food Depots +in their present dimensions, and with the coming extensions the +consumption will be enormously augmented. On this Farm I propose to +carry on every description of "little agriculture." + +I have not yet referred to the female side of our operations, +but have reserved them for another chapter. It is necessary, however, +to bring them in here in order to explain that employment will be +created for women as well as men. Fruit farming affords a great +opening for female labour, and it will indeed be a change as from +Tophet to the Garden of Eden when the poor lost girls on the +streets of London exchange the pavements of Piccadilly for the +strawberry Beds of Essex or Kent. + +Not only will vegetables and fruit of every description be raised, +but I think that a great deal might be done in the smaller adjuncts of +the Farm. + +It is quite certain that amongst the mass of people with whom we have +to deal there will be a residual remnant of persons to some extent +mentally infirm or physically incapacitated from engaging in the harder +toils. For these people it is necessary to find work, and I think +there would be a good field for their benumbed energies in looking +after rabbits, feeding poultry, minding bees, and, in short doing all +those little odd jobs about a place which must be attended to, +but which will not repay the labour of able-bodied men. + +One advantage of the cosmopolitan nature of the Army is that we have +Officers in almost every country in the world. When this Scheme is +well on the way every Salvation Officer in every I and will have it +imposed upon him as one of the duties of his calling to keep his eyes +open for every useful notion and every conceivable contrivance for +increasing the yield of the soil and utilising the employment of waste +labour. By this means I hope that there will not be an idea in the +world which will not be made available for our Scheme. If an Officer +in Sweden can give us practical hints as to how they manage food +kitchens for the people, or an Officer in the South of France can +explain how the peasants are able to rear eggs and poultry not only for +their own use, but so as to be able to export them by the million to +England; if a Sergeant in Belgium understands how it is that the rabbit +farmers there can feed and fatten and supply our market with millions +of rabbits we shall have him over, tap his brains, and set him to work +to benefit our people. + +By the establishment of this Farm Colony we should create a great +school of technical agricultural education. It would be a Working +Men's Agricultural University, training people for the life which they +would have to lead in the new countries they will go forth to colonise +and possess. + +Every man who goes to our Farm Colony does so, not to acquire his +fortune, but to obtain a knowledge of an occupation and that mastery of +his tools which will enable him to play his part in the battle of life. +He will be provided with a cheap uniform, which we shall find no +difficulty in rigging up from the old clothes of London, and it will go +hardly with us, and we shall have worse luck than the ordinary market +gardener, if we do not succeed in making sufficient profit to pay all +the expenses of the concern, and leave something over for the +maintenance of the hopelessly incompetent, and those who, to put it +roughly, are not worth their keep. + +Every person in the Farm Colony will be taught the elementary lesson of +obedience, and will be instructed in the needful arts of husbandry, +or some other method of earning his bread. The Agricultural Section +will learn the lesson of the seasons and of the best kind of seeds and +plants. Those belonging to this Section will learn how to hedge and +ditch, how to make roads and build bridges, and generally to subdue the +earth and make it yield to him the riches which it never withholds from +the industrious and skilful workman. But the Farm Colony, any more +than the City Colony, although an abiding institution, will not provide +permanently for those with whom we have to deal. It is a Training +School for Emigrants, a place where those indispensably practical +lessons are given which will enable the Colonists to know their way +about and to feel themselves at home wherever there is land to till, +stock to rear, and harvests to reap. We shall rely greatly for the +peace and prosperity of the Colony upon the sense of brotherhood which +will be universal in it from the highest to the lowest. While there +will be no systematic wage-paying there will be some sort of rewards +and remuneration for honest industry, which will be stored up, for his +benefit, as afterwards explained. They will in the main work each for +all, and, therefore, the needs of all will be supplied, and any +overplus will go to make the bridge over which any poor fellow may +escape from the horrible pit and the miry clay from which they +themselves have been rescued. + +The dulness and deadness of country life, especially in the Colonies, +leads many men to prefer a life of hardship and privation in a City +slum. But in our Colony they would be near to each other, and would +enjoy the advantages of country life and the association and +companionship of life in town. + + +SECTION 2.--THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE. + +In describing the operations of the Household Salvage Brigade I have +referred to the enormous quantities of good sound food which would be +collected from door to door every day of the year. Much of this food +would be suitable for human consumption, its waste being next door to +sinful. Imagine, for instance, the quantities of soup which might be +made from boiling the good fresh meaty bones of the great City! +Think of the dainty dishes which a French cook would be able to serve +up from the scraps and odds and ends of a single West End kitchen. +Good cookery is not an extravagance but an economy, and many a tasty +dish is made by our Continental friends out of materials which would be +discarded indignantly by the poorest tramp in Whitechapel. + +But after all that is done there will remain a mass of food which +cannot be eaten by man, but can be converted into food for him by the +simple process of passing it through another digestive apparatus. +The old bread of London, the soiled, stale crusts can be used in +foddering the horses which are employed in collecting the waste. +It will help to feed the rabbits, whose hutches will be close by every +cottage on the estate, and the hens of the Colony will flourish on the +crumbs which fall from the table of Dives. But after the horses and +the rabbits and poultry have been served, there will remain a residuum +of eatable matter, which can only be profitably disposed of to the +voracious and necessary pig. I foresee the rise of a piggery in +connection with the new Social Scheme, which will dwarf into +insignificance all that exist in Great Britain and Ireland. We have +the advantage of the experience of the whole world as to the choice of +breeds, the construction of sties, and the rearing of stock. We shall +have the major part of our food practically for the cost of collection, +and be able to adopt all the latest methods of Chicago for the killing, +curing, and disposing of our pork, ham, and bacon. + +There are few animals more useful than the pig. He will eat anything, +live anywhere, and almost every particle of him, from the tip of his +nose to the end of his tail, is capable of being converted into a +saleable commodity. Your pig also is a great producer of manure, +and agriculture is after all largely a matter of manure. Treat the +land well and it will treat you well. With our piggery in connection +with our Farm Colony there would be no lack of manure. + +With the piggery there would grow up a great bacon factory for curing, +and that again would make more work. Then as for sausages they would +be produced literally by the mile, and all made of the best meat +instead of being manufactured out of the very objectionable ingredients +too often stowed away in that poor man's favourite ration. + +Food, however, is only one of the materials which will be collected +by the Household Salvage Brigade. The barges which float down the +river with the tide, laden to the brim with the cast-off waste of +half a million homes, will bring down an enormous quantity of material +which cannot be eaten even by pigs. There will be, for instance, the +old bones. At present it pays speculators to go to the prairies of +America and gather up the bleached bones of the dead buffaloes, +in order to make manure. It pays manufacturers to bring bones from the +end of the earth in order to grind them up for use on our fields. +But the waste bones of London; who collects them? I see, as in a +vision, barge loads upon barge loads of bones floating down the Thames +to the great Bone Factory. Some of the best will yield material for +knife handles and buttons, and the numberless articles which will +afford ample opportunity in the long winter evenings for the +acquisition of skill on the part of our Colonist carvers, while the +rest will go straight to the Manure Mill. There will be a constant +demand for manure on the part of our ever-increasing nests of new +Colonies and our Co-operative Farm, every man in which will be educated +in the great doctrine that there is no good agriculture without liberal +manuring. And here will be an unfailing source of supply. + +Among the material which comes down will be an immense quantity of +greasy matter, bits of fat, suet and lard, tallow, strong butter, +and all the rancid fat of a great city. For all that we shall have to +find use. The best of it will make waggon grease, the rest, after due +boiling and straining, will form the nucleus of the raw material which +will make our Social Soap a household word throughout the kingdom. +After the Manure Works, the Soap Factory will be the natural adjunct of +our operations. + +The fourth great output of the daily waste of London will be waste +paper and rags, which, after being chemically treated, and duly +manipulated by machinery, will be re-issued to the world in the shape +of paper. The Salvation Army consumes no less than thirty tons of +paper every week. Here, therefore, would be one customer for as much +paper as the new mill would be able to turn out at the onset; paper on +which we could print the glad tidings of great joy, and tell the poor +of all nations the news of salvation for earth and Heaven, full, +present, and free to all the children of men. + +Then comes the tin. It will go hard with us if we cannot find some way +of utilizing these tins, whether we make them into flowerpots with a +coat of enamel, or convert them into ornaments, or cut them up for toys +or some other purpose. My officers have been instructed to make an +exhaustive report on the way the refuse collectors of Paris deal with +the sardine tins. The industry of making tin toys will be one which +can be practised better in the Farm Colony than in the City. +If necessary, we shall bring an accomplished workman from France, +who will teach our people the way of dealing with the tin. + +In connection with all this it is obvious there would be a constant +demand for packing cases, for twine, rope, and for boxes of all kinds; +for carts and cars; and, in short, we should before long have a +complete community practising almost all the trades that are to be +found in London, except the keeping of grog shops, the whole being +worked upon co-operative principles, but co-operation not for the +benefit of the individual co-operator, but for the benefit of the +sunken mass that lies behind it. + +RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF COLONISTS. + +A document containing the Orders and Regulations for the Government of +the Colony must be approved and signed by every Colonist before +admission. Amongst other things there will be the following: -- + +1. All Officers must be treated respectfully and implicitly obeyed. + +2. The use of intoxicants strictly prohibited, none being allowed + within its borders. Any Colonist guilty of violating this Order to + be expelled, and that on the first offence. + +3. Expulsion for drunkenness, dishonesty, or falsehood will follow the + third offence. + +4. Profane language strictly forbidden. + +5. No cruelty to be practised on man, woman, child, or animal. + +6. Serious offenders against the virtue of women, or of children of + either sex, to incur immediate expulsion. + +7. After a certain period of probation, and a considerable amount of + patience, all who will not work to be expelled. + +8. The decision of the Governor of the Colony, whether in the City, + or the Farm, or Over the Sea, to be binding in all cases. + +9. With respect to penalties, the following rules will be acted upon. + The chief reliance for the maintenance of order, as has been + observed before, will be placed upon the spirit of love which will + prevail throughout the community. But as it cannot be expected to + be universally successful, certain penalties will have to be + provided: -- + + (a) First offences, except in flagrant cases, will be recorded. + (b) The second offence will be published. + (c) The third offence will incur expulsion or being handed over to the + authorities. + + Other regulations will be necessary as the Scheme develops. + +There will be no attempt to enforce upon the Colonists the rules and +regulations to which Salvation Soldiers are subjected. Those who are +soundly saved and who of their own free will desire to become +Salvationists will, of course, be subjected to the rules of the +Service. But Colonists who are willing to work and obey the orders of +the Commanding Officer will only be subject to the foregoing and +similar regulations; in all other things they will be left free. + +For instance, there will be no objection to field recreations or any +outdoor exercises which conduce to the maintenance of health and +spirits. A reading room and a library will be provided, together with +a hall, in which they can amuse themselves in the long winter nights +and in unfavourable weather. These things are not for the Salvation +Army Soldiers, who have other work in the world, but for those who are +not in the Army these recreations will be permissible. Gambling and +anything of an immoral tendency will be repressed like stealing. + +There will probably be an Annual Exhibition of fruit and flowers, +at which all the Colonists who have a plot of garden of their own will +take part. They will exhibit their fruit and vegetables as well as +their rabbits, their poultry and all the other live-stock of the farm. +Every effort will be made to establish village industries, and I am not +without hope but that we may be able to restore some of the domestic +occupations which steam has compelled us to confine to the great +factories. The more the Colony can be made self-supporting the better. +And although the hand loom can never compete with Manchester mills, +still an occupation which kept the hands of the goodwife busy in the +long winter nights, is not to be despised as an element in the +economics of the Settlement. While Manchester and Leeds may be able to +manufacture common goods much more cheaply than they can be spun at +home, even these emporiums, with all their grand improvements in +machinery, would be sorely pressed to-day to compete with the hand-loom +in many superior classes of work. For instance, we all know the +hand-sewn boot still holds its own against the most perfect article +that machinery can turn out. + +There would be, in the centre of the Colony, a Public Elementary School +at which the children would receive training, and side by side with +that an Agricultural Industrial School, as elsewhere described. + +The religious welfare of the Colony would be looked after by the +Salvation Army, but there will be no compulsion to take part in +its services. The Sabbath will be strictly observed; no unnecessary +work will be done in the Colony on that day, but beyond interdicted +labour, the Colonists will be allowed to spend Sunday as they please. +It will be the fault of the Salvation Army if they do not find our +Sunday Services sufficiently attractive to command their attendance. + + +SECTION 3.--AGRICULTURAL VILLAGES. + +This brings me to the next feature of the Scheme, the creation of +agricultural settlements in the neighbourhood of the Farm, around the +original Estate. I hope to obtain land for the purpose of allotments +which can be taken up to the extent of so many acres by the more +competent Colonists who wish to remain at home instead of going abroad. +There will be allotments from three to five acres with a cottage, +a cow, and the necessary tools and seed for making the allotment +self-supporting. A weekly charge will be imposed for the he repayment +of the cost of the fixing and stock. The tenant will of course, +be entitled to his tenant-right, but adequate precautions will be taken +against underletting and other forms by which sweating makes its way +into agricultural communities. On entering into possession, the tenant +will become responsible for his own and his family's maintenance. +I shall stand no longer in the relation of father of the household to +him, as I do to the other members of the Colony; his obligations will +cease to me, except in the payment of his rent. + +The creation of a large number of Allotment Farms would make the +establishment of a creamery necessary, where the milk could be brought +in every day and converted into butter by the most modern methods, +with the least possible delay. Dairying, which has in some places on +the Continent almost developed to a fine art, is in a very backward +condition in this country. But by co-operation among the cottiers and +an intelligent Headquarter staff much could be done which at present +appears impossible. + +The tenant will be allowed permanent tenancy on payment of an annual +rent or land tax, subject, of course, to such necessary regulations +which may be made for the prevention of intemperance and immorality and +the preservation of the fundamental features of the Colony. In this +way our Farm Colony will throw off small Colonies all round it until +the original site is but the centre of a whole series of small farms, +where those whom we have rescued and trained will live, if not under +their own vine and fig tree, at least in the midst of their own little +fruit farm, and surrounded by their small flocks and herds. +The cottages will be so many detached residences, each standing in its +own ground, not so far away from its neighbours as to deprive its +occupants of the benefit of human intercourse. + + +SECTION 4.--CO-OPERATIVE FARM. + +Side by side with the Farm Colony proper I should propose to renew the +experiment of Mr. E. T. Craig, which he found work so successfully at +Ralahine. When any members of the original Colony had pulled +themselves sufficiently together to desire to begin again on their own +account, I should group some of them as partners in a Co-operative +Farm, and see whether or no the success achieved in County Clare could +not be repeated in Essex or in Kent. I cannot have more unpromising +material to deal with than the wild Irishmen on Colonel Vandeleur's +estate, and I would certainly take care to be safeguarded against any +such mishap as destroyed the early promise of Ralahine. + +I shall look upon this as one of the most important experiments of the +entire series, and if, as I anticipate, it can be worked successfully, +that is, if the results of Ralahine can be secured on a larger scale, +I shall consider that the problem of the employment of the people, +and the use of the land, and the food supply for the globe, +is unquestionably solved, were its inhabitants many times greater in +number than they are. + +Without saying more, some idea will be obtained as to what I propose +from the story of Ralahine related briefly at the close of this volume. + + +CHAPTER 4. NEW BRITAIN--THE COLONY OVER-SEA. + +We now come to the third and final stage of the regenerative process. +The Colony Over-Sea. To mention Over-Sea is sufficient with some +people to damn the Scheme. A prejudice against emigration has been +diligently fostered in certain quarters by those who have openly +admitted that they did not wish to deplete the ranks of the Army of +Discontent at home, for the more discontented people you have here the +more trouble you can give the Government, and the more power you have +to bring about the general overturn, which is the only thing in which +they see any hope for the future. Some again object to emigration on +the ground that it is transportation. I confess that I have great +sympathy with those who object to emigration as carried on hitherto, +and if it be a consolation to any of my critics I may say at once that +so far from compulsorily expatriating any Englishman I shall refuse to +have any part or lot in emigrating any man or woman who does not +voluntarily wish to be sent out. + +A journey over sea is a very different thing now to what it was when +a voyage to Australia consumed more than six months, when emigrants +were crowded by hundreds into sailing ships, and scenes of abominable +sin and brutality were the normal incidents of the passage. The world +has grown much smaller since the electric telegraph was discovered and +side by side with the shrinkage of this planet under the influence of +steam and electricity there has come a sense of brotherhood and a +consciousness of community of interest and of nationality on the part +of the English-speaking people throughout the world. To change from +Devon to Australia is not such a change in many respects as merely to +cross over from Devon to Normandy. In Australia the Emigrant finds him +self among men and women of the same habits, the same language, and in +fact the same people, excepting that they live under the southern cross +instead of in the northern latitudes. The reduction of the postage +between England and the Colonies, a reduction which I hope will soon be +followed by the establishment of the Universal Penny Post between the +English speaking lands, will further tend to lessen the sense of +distance. + +The constant travelling of the Colonists backwards and forwards to +England makes it absurd to speak of the Colonies as if they were a +foreign land. They are simply pieces of Britain distributed about the +world, enabling the Britisher to have access to the richest parts of +the earth. + +Another objection which will be taken to this Scheme is that colonists +already over sea will see with infinite alarm the prospect of the +transfer of our waste labour to their country. It is easy to +understand how this misconception will arise, but there is not much +danger of opposition on this score. The working-men who rule the roost +at Melbourne object to the introduction of fresh workmen into their +labour market, for the same reason that the new Dockers' Union objects +to the appearance of new hands at the dock gates, that is for fear the +newcomers will enter into unfriendly competition with them. But no +Colony, not even the Protectionist and Trade Unionists who govern +Victoria, could rationally object to the introduction of trained +Colonists planted out upon the land. They would see that these men +would become a source of wealth, simply because they would at once +become producers as well as consumers, and instead of cutting down +wages they would tend directly to improve trade and so increase the +employment of the workmen now in the Colony. Emigration as hitherto +conducted has been carried out on directly opposite principles to +these. Men and women have simply been shot down into countries without +any regard to their possession of ability to earn a livelihood, +and have consequently become an incubus upon the energies of the +community, and a discredit, expense, and burden. The result is that +they gravitate to the towns and compete with the colonial workmen, +and thereby drive down wages. We shall avoid that mistake. We need +not wonder that Australians and other Colonists should object to their +countries being converted into a sort of dumping ground, on which to +deposit men and women totally unsuited for the new circumstances in +which they find themselves. + +Moreover, looking at it from the aspect of the class itself, would such +emigration be of any enduring value? It is not merely more favourable +circumstances that are required by these crowds, but those habits of +industry, truthfulness, and self-restraint, which will enable them to +profit by better conditions if they could only come to possess them. +According to the most reliable information there are already sadly too +many of the same classes we want to help in countries supposed to be +the paradise of the working-man. + +What could be done with a people whose first enquiry on reaching +a foreign land would be for a whisky shop, and who were utterly +ignorant of those forms of labour and habits of industry absolutely +indispensable to the earning of a subsistence amid the hardships of an +Emigrant's life? Such would naturally shrink from the self-denial the +new circumstances inevitably called for, and rather than suffer the +inconveniences connected with a settler's life, would probably sink +down into helpless despair, or settle in the slums of the first city +they came to. + +These difficulties, in my estimation, bar the way to the emigration on +any considerable scale of the "submerged tenth," and yet I am strongly +of opinion, with the majority of those who have thought and written on +political economy, that emigration is the only remedy for this +mighty evil. Now, the Over-Sea Colony plan, I think, meets these +difficulties: -- + + (1) In the preparation of the Colony for the people. + (2) In the preparation of the people for the Colony. + (3) In the arrangements that are rendered possible for the transport + of the people when prepared. + +It is proposed to secure a large tract of land in some country suitable +to our purpose. We have thought of South Africa, to begin with. +We are in no way pledged to this part of the world, or to it alone. +There is nothing to prevent our establishing similar settlements in +Canada, Australia, or some other land. British Columbia has been +strongly urged upon our notice. Indeed, it is certain if this Scheme +proves the success we anticipate, the first Colony will be the +forerunner of similar communities elsewhere. Africa, however, presents +to us great advantages for the moment. There is any amount of land +suitable for our purpose which can be obtained, we think, without +difficulty. The climate is healthy. Labour is in great demand, +so that if by any means work failed on the Colony, there would be +abundant opportunities for securing good wages from the neighbouring +Companies. + + +SECTION 1.--THE COLONY AND THE COLONISTS. + +Before any decision is arrived at, however, information will be +obtained as to the position and character of the land; +the accessibility of markets for commodities; communication with +Europe, and other necessary particulars. + +The next business would be to obtain on grant, or otherwise, +a sufficient tract of suitable country for the purpose of a Colony, +on conditions that would meet its present and future character. + +After obtaining a title to the country, the next business will be to +effect a settlement in it. This, I suppose, will be accomplished by +sending a competent body of men under skilled supervision to fix on a +suitable location for the first settlement, erecting such buildings as +would be required, enclosing and breaking up the land, putting in first +crops, and so storing sufficient supplies of food for the future. + +Then a supply of Colonists would be sent out to join them, and from +time to time other detachments, as the Colony was prepared to receive +them. Further locations could then be chosen, and more country broken +up, and before a very long period has passed the Colony would be +capable of receiving and absorbing a continuous stream of emigration of +considerable proportions. + +The next work would be the establishment of a strong and efficient +government, prepared to carry out and enforce the same laws and +discipline to which the Colonists had been accustomed in England, +together with such alterations and additions as the new circumstances +would render necessary. + +The Colonists would become responsible for all that concerned their own +support; that is to say, they would buy and sell, engage in trade, +hire servants, and transact all the ordinary business affairs of +every-day life. + +Our Headquarters in England would represent the Colony in this country +on their behalf, and with money supplied by them, when once fairly +established, would buy for their agents what they were at the outset +unable to produce themselves, such as machinery and the like, +also selling their produce to the best advantage. + +All land, timber, minerals, and the like, would be rented to the +Colonists, all unearned increments, and improvements on the land, +would be held on behalf of the entire community, and utilised for its +general advantages, a certain percentage being set apart for the +extension of its borders, and the continued transmission of Colonists +from England in increasing numbers. + +Arrangements would be made for the temporary accommodation of new +arrivals, Officers being maintained for the purpose of taking them +in hand on landing and directing and controlling them generally. +So far as possible, they would be introduced to work without any waste +of time, situations being ready for them to enter upon; and any way, +their wants would be supplied till this was the case. + +There would be friends who would welcome and care for them, not merely +on the principle of profit and loss, but on the ground of friendship +and religion, many of whom the emigrants would probably have known +before in the old country, together with all the social influences, +restraints, and religious enjoyments to which the Colonists have +been accustomed. After dealing with the preparation of the Colony +for the Colonists, we now come to the preparation of the +COLONISTS FOR THE COLONY OVER-SEA. + +They would be prepared by an education in honesty, truth, and industry, +without which we could not indulge in any hope of their succeeding. +While men and women would be received into the City Colony without +character, none would be sent over the sea who had not been proved +worthy of this trust. + +They would be inspired with an ambition to do well for themselves +and their fellow Colonists. + +They would be instructed in all that concerned their future career. + +They would be taught those industries in which they would be most +profitably employed. + +They would be inured to the hardships they would have to endure. + +They would be accustomed to the economies they would have to practise. + +They would be made acquainted with the comrades with whom they would +have to live and labour. + +They would be accustomed to the Government, Orders, and Regulations +which they would have to obey. + +They would be educated, so far as the opportunity served, in those +habits of patience, forbearance, and affection which would so largely +tend to their own welfare, and to the successful carrying out of this +part of our Scheme. + +TRANSPORT TO THE COLONY OVER-SEA. + +We now come to the question of transport. This certainly has an +element of difficulty in it, if the remedy is to be applied on a very +large scale. But this will appear of less importance if we consider: -- + +That the largeness of the number will reduce the individual cost. +Emigrants can be conveyed to such a location in South Africa, as we +have in view, by ones and twos at #8 per head, including land journey; +and, no doubt, were a large number carried, this figure would be +reduced considerably. + +Many of the Colonists would have friends who would assist them with the +cost of passage money and outfit. + +All the unmarried will have earned something on the City and Farm +Colonies, which will go towards meeting their passage money. In the +course of time relatives, who are comfortably settled in the Colony, +will save money, and assist their kindred in getting out to them. +We have the examples before our eyes in Australia and the United States +of how those countries have in this form absorbed from Europe millions +of poor struggling people. + +All Colonists and emigrants generally will bind themselves in a legal +instrument to repay all monies, expenses of passage, outfit, +or otherwise, which would in turn be utilised in sending out further +contingents. + +On the plan named, if prudently carried out, and generously assisted, +the transfer of the entire surplus population of this country is not +only possible, but would, we think, in process of time, be effected +with enormous advantage to the people themselves, to this country, +and the country of their adoption. The history of Australia and the +United States evidences this. It is quite true the first settlers in +the latter were people superior in every way for such an enterprise to +the bulk of those we propose to send out. But it is equally true that +large numbers of the most ignorant and vicious of our European +populations have been pouring into that country ever since without +affecting its prosperity, and this Colony Over-Sea would have the +immense advantage at the outset which would come from a government and +discipline carefully adapted to its peculiar circumstances, and rigidly +enforced in every particular. + +I would guard against misconception in relation to this Colony Over-Sea +by pointing out that all my proposals here are necessarily tentative +and experimental. There is no intention on my part to stick to any of +these suggestions if, on maturer consideration and consultation with +practical men, they can be improved upon. Mr. Arnold White, who has +already conducted two parties of Colonists to South Africa, is one of +the few men in this country who has had practical experience of the +actual difficulties of colonisation. I have, through a mutual friend, +had the advantage of comparing notes with him very fully, and I venture +to believe that there is nothing in this Scheme that is not in harmony +with the result of his experience. In a couple of months this book will +be read all over the world. It will bring me a plentiful crop of +suggestions, and, I hope, offers of service from many valuable and +experienced Colonists in every country. In the due order of things the +Colony Over-Sea is the last to be started. Long before our first batch +of Colonists is ready to cross the ocean I shall be in a position to +correct and revise the proposals of this chapter by the best wisdom and +matured experience of the practical men of every Colony in the Empire. + + +SECTION 2.--UNIVERSAL EMIGRATION. + +We have in our remarks on the Over-Sea Colony referred to the general +concensus of opinion on the part of those who have studied the Social +Question as to Emigration being the only remedy for the overcrowded +population of this country, at the same time showing some of the +difficulties which lie in the way of the adoption of the remedy; the +dislike of the people to so great a change as is involved in going from +one country to another; the cost of their transfer, and their general +unfitness for an emigrant's life. These difficulties, as I think we +have seen, are fully met by the Over-Sea Colony Scheme. But, apart +from those who, driven by their abject poverty, will avail themselves +of our Scheme, there are multitudes of people all over the country who +would be likely to emigrate could they be assisted in so doing. +Those we propose to help in the following manner: -- + + 1. By opening a Bureau in London, and appointing Officers whose + business it will be to acquire every kind of information as to + suitable countries, their adaptation to, and the openings they + present for different trades and callings, the possibility of + obtaining land and employment, the rates of remuneration, and the + like. These enquiries will include the cost of passage-money, + railway fares, outfit, together with every kind of information + required by an emigrant. + + 2. From this Bureau any one may obtain all necessary information. + + 3. Special terms will be arranged with steamships, railway companies, + and land agents, of which emigrants using the Bureau will have the + advantage. + + 4. Introductions will be supplied, as far as possible, to agents and + friends in the localities to which the emigrant may be proceeding. + + 5. Intending emigrants, desirous of saving money, can deposit it + through this Bureau in the Army Bank for that purpose. + + 6. It is expected that government contractors and other employers of + labour requiring Colonists of reliable character will apply to this + Bureau for such, offering favourable terms with respect to + passage-money, employment, and other advantages. + + 7. No emigrant will be sent out in response to any application from + abroad where the emigrant's expenses are defrayed, without + references as to character, industry, and fitness. + +This Bureau, we think, will be especially useful to women and young +girls. There must be a large number of such in this country living in +semi-starvation, anyway, with very poor prospects, who would be very +welcome abroad, the expense of whose transfer governments, and masters +and mistresses alike would be very glad to defray, or assist in +defraying, if they could only be assured on both sides of the +beneficial character of the arrangements when made. + +So widespread now are the operations of the Army, and so extensively +will this Bureau multiply its agencies that it will speedily be able to +make personal enquiries on both sides, that is in the interest alike of +the emigrant and the intended employer in any part of the world. + + +SECTION 3.--THE SALVATION SHIP. + +When we have selected a party of emigrants whom we believe to be +sufficiently prepared to settle on the land which has been got ready +for them in the Colony over Sea, it will be no dismal expatriation +which will await them. No one who has ever been on the West Coast of +Ireland when the emigrants were departing, and has heard the dismal +wails which arise from those who are taking leave of each other for the +last time on earth, can fail to sympathise with the horror excited in +many minds by the very word emigration. But when our party sets out, +there will be no violent wrenching of home ties. In our ship we shall +export them all--father, mother, and children. The individuals will +be grouped in families, and the families will, on the Farm Colony, have +been for some months past more or less near neighbours, meeting each +other in the field, in the workshops, and in the Religious Services. +It will resemble nothing so much as the unmooring of a little piece of +England, and towing it across the sea to find a safe anchorage in a +sunnier clime. The ship which takes out emigrants will bring back the +produce of the farms, and constant travelling to and fro will lead more +than ever to the feeling that we and our ocean-sundered brethren are +members of one family. + +No one who has ever crossed the ocean can have failed to be impressed +with the mischief that comes to emigrants when they are on their way to +their destination. Many and many a girl has dated her downfall from +the temptations which beset her while journeying to a land where she +had hoped to find a happier future + +"Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do," and he must +have his hands full on board an emigrant ship. Look into the steerage +at any time, and you will find boredom inexpressible on every face. +The men have nothing to do, and an incident of no more importance than +the appearance of a sail upon the distant horizon is an event which +makes the whole ship talk. I do not see why this should be so. +Of course, in the case of conveying passengers and freight, with the +utmost possible expedition, for short distances, it would be idle to +expect that either time or energies could be spared for the employment +or instruction of the passengers. But the case is different when, +instead of going to America, the emigrant turns his face to South +Africa or remote Australia. Then, even with the fastest steamers, +they must remain some weeks or months upon the high seas. The result +is that habits of idleness are contracted, bad acquaintances are +formed, and very often the moral and religious work of a lifetime is +undone. + +To avoid these evil consequences, I think we should be compelled to +have a ship of our own as soon as possible. A sailing vessel might be +found the best adapted for the work. Leaving out the question of time, +which would be of very secondary importance with us, the construction +of a sailing ship would afford more space for the accommodation of +emigrants and for industrial occupation, and would involve considerably +less working expenses, besides costing very much less at the onset, +even if we did not have one given to us, which I should think would be +very probable. + +All the emigrants would be under the charge of Army Officers, and +instead of the voyage being demoralising, it would be made instructive +and profitable. From leaving London to landing at their destination, +every colonist would be under watchful oversight, could receive +instruction in those particulars where they were still needing it, +and be subjected to influences that would be beneficial everyway. + +Then we have seen that one of the great difficulties in the direction +of emigration is the cost of transport. The expense of conveying a man +from England to Australia, occupying as it does some seven or eight +weeks, arises not so much from the expense connected with the working +of the vessel which carries him, as the amount of provisions he +consumes during the passage. Now, with this plan I think that the +emigrants might be made to earn at least a portion of this outlay. +There is no reason why a man should not work on board ship any more +than on land. Of course, nothing much could be done when the weather +was very rough; but the average number of days during which it would be +impossible for passengers to employ themselves profitably in the time +spent between the Channel and Cape Town or Australia would be +comparatively few. + +When the ship was pitching or rolling, work would be difficult; but +even then, when the Colonists get their sea-legs, and are free from the +qualmishness which overtakes landsmen when first getting afloat, +I cannot see why they should not engage in some form of industrial work +far more profitable than yawning and lounging about the deck, to say +nothing of the fact that by so doing they would lighten the expense of +their transit. The sailors, firemen, engineers, and everybody else +connected with a vessel have to work, and there is no reason why our +Colonists should not work also. + +Of course, this method would require special arrangements in the +fitting up of the vessel, which, if it were our own, it would not be +difficult to make. At first sight it may seem difficult to find +employments on board ship which could be engaged in to advantage, +and it might not be found possible to fix up every individual right +away; but I think there would be very few of the class and character of +people we should take out, with the prior instructions they would have +received, who would not have fitted themselves into some useful labour +before the voyage ended. + +To begin with, there would be a large amount of the ordinary ship's +work that the Colonists could perform, such as the preparation of food, +serving it out, cleaning the decks and fittings of the ship generally, +together with the loading and unloading of cargo. All these operations +could be readily done under the direction of permanent hands. +Then shoemaking, knitting, sewing, tailoring, and other kindred +occupations could be engaged in. I should think sewing-machines could +be worked, and, one way or another, any amount of garments could be +manufactured, which would find ready and profitable sale on landing, +either among the Colonists themselves, or with the people round about. + +Not only would the ship thus be a perfect hive of industry, it would +also be a floating temple. The Captain, Officers, and every member of +the crew would be Salvationists, and all, therefore, alike interested +in the enterprise. Moreover, the probabilities are that we should +obtain the service of the ship's officers and crew in the most +inexpensive manner, in harmony with the usages of the Army everywhere +else, men serving from love and not as a mere business. The effect +produced by our ship cruising slowly southwards testifying to the +reality of a Salvation for both worlds, calling at all convenient +ports, would constitute a new kind of mission work, and drawing out +everywhere a large amount of warm practical sympathy. At present the +influence of those who go down to the sea in ships is not always in +favour of raising the morals and religion of the dwellers in the places +where they come. Here, however, would be one ship at least whose +appearance foretold no disorder, gave rise to no debauchery, and from +whose capacious hull would stream forth an Army of men, who, instead of +thronging the grog-shops and other haunts of licentious indulgence, +would occupy themselves with explaining and proclaiming the religion of +the Love of God and the Brotherhood of Man. + + +CHAPTER 5. MORE CRUSADES. + +I have now sketched out briefly the leading features of the threefold +Scheme by which I think a way can be opened out of "Darkest England," +by which its forlorn denizens can escape into the light and freedom of +a new life. But it is not enough to make a clear broad road out of the +heart of this dense and matted jungle forest; its inhabitants are in +many cases so degraded, so hopeless, so utterly desperate that we shall +have to do something more than make roads. As we read in the parable, +it is often not enough that the feast be prepared, and the guests be +bidden; we must needs go into the highways and byways and compel them +to come in. So it is not enough to provide our City Colony and our +Farm Colony, and then rest on our oars as if we had done our work. +That kind of thing will not save the Lost. + +It is necessary to organise rescue expeditions to free the miserable +wanderers from their captivity, and bring them out into the larger +liberty and the fuller life. Talk about Stanley and Emin! There is not +one of us but has an Emin somewhere or other in the heart of Darkest +England, whom he ought to sally forth to rescue. Our Emins have the +Devil for their Mahdi, and when we get to them we find that it is their +friends and neighbours who hold them back, and they are, oh, +so irresolute! It needs each of us to be as indomitable as Stanley, +to burst through all obstacles, to force our way right to the centre of +things, and then to labour with the poor prisoner of vice and crime +with all our might. But had not the Expeditionary Committee furnished +the financial means whereby a road was opened to the sea, both Stanley +and Emin would probably have been in the heart of Darkest Africa to +this day. This Scheme is our Stanley Expedition. The analogy is very +close. I propose to make a road clear down to the sea. But alas our +poor Emin! Even when the road is open, he halts and lingers and doubts. +First he will, and then he won't, and nothing less than the +irresistible pressure of a friendly and stronger purpose will constrain +him to take the road which has been opened for him at such a cost of +blood and treasure. I now, therefore, proceed to sketch some of the +methods by which we shall attempt to save the lost and to rescue those +who are perishing in the midst of "Darkest England." + + +SECTION 1.--A SLUM CRUSADE.--OUR SLUM SISTERS. + +When Professor Huxley lived as a medical officer in the East of London +he acquired a knowledge of the actual condition of the life of many of +its populace which led him long afterwards to declare that the +surroundings of the savages of New Guinea were much more conducive to +the leading of a decent human existence than those in which many of the +East-Enders live. Alas, it is not only in London that such lairs exist +in which the savages of civilisation lurk and breed. All the great +towns in both the Old World and the New have their slums, in which +huddle together, in festering and verminous filth, men, women, and +children. They correspond to the lepers who thronged the lazar houses +of the Middle Ages. + +As in those days St. Francis of Assissi and the heroic band of saints +who gathered under his orders were wont to go and lodge with the lepers +at the city gates, so the devoted souls who have enlisted in the +Salvation Army take up their quarters in the heart of the worst slums. +But whereas the Friars were men, our Slum Brigade is composed of women. +I have a hundred of them under my orders, young women for the most part, +quartered all of them in outposts in the heart of the Devil's country. +Most of them are the children of the poor who have known hardship from +their youth up. Some are ladies born and bred, who have not been +afraid to exchange the comfort of a West End drawing-room for service +among the vilest of the vile, and a residence in small and fetid rooms +whose walls were infested with vermin. They live the life of the +Crucified for the sake of the men and women for whom He lived and died. +They form one of the branches of the activity of the Army upon which I +dwell with deepest sympathy. They are at the front; they are at close +quarters with the enemy. To the dwellers in decent homes who occupy +cushioned pews in fashionable churches there is something strange and +quaint in the language they hear read from the Bible, language which +habitually refers to the Devil as an actual personality, and to the +struggle against sin and uncleanness as if it were a hand to hand death +wrestle with the legions of Hell. To our little sisters who dwell in +an atmosphere heavy with curses, among people sodden with drink, +in quarters where sin and uncleanness are universal, all these Biblical +sayings are as real as the quotations of yesterday's price of Consols +are to a City man. They dwell in the midst of Hell, and in their daily +warfare with a hundred devils it seems incredible to them that anyone +can doubt the existence of either one or the other. + +The Slum Sister is what her name implies, the Sister of the Slum. +They go forth in Apostolic fashion, two-and-two living in a couple of +the same kind of dens or rooms as are occupied by the people +themselves, differing only in the cleanliness and order, and the few +articles of furniture which they contain. Here they live all the year +round, visiting the sick, looking after the children, showing the women +how to keep themselves and their homes decent, often discharging the +sick mother's duties themselves; cultivating peace, advocating +temperance, counselling in temporalities, and ceaselessly preaching the +religion of Jesus Christ to the Outcasts of Society. + +I do not like to speak of their work. Words fail me, and what I say +is so unworthy the theme. I prefer to quote two descriptions by +Journalists who have seen these girls at work in the field. +The first is taken from a long article which Julia Hayes Percy +contributed to the New York World, describing a visit paid by her to +the slum quarters of the Salvation Army in Cherry Hill Alleys, in the +Whitechapel of New York. + +Twenty-four hours in the slums--just a night and a day-- +yet into them were crowded such revelations of misery, depravity, +and degradation as having once been gazed upon life can never be the +same afterwards. Around and above his blighted neighbourhood flows +the tide of active, prosperous life. Men and women travel past in +street cars by the Elevated Railroad and across the bridge, +and take no thought of its wretchedness, of the criminals bred there, +and of the disease engendered by its foulness. It is a fearful menace +to the public health, both moral and physical, yet the multitude is as +heedless of danger as the peasant who makes his house and plants green +vineyards and olives above Vesuvian fires. We are almost as careless +and quite as unknowing as we pass the bridge in the late afternoon. +Our immediate destination is the Salvation Army Barracks in Washington +Street, and we are going finally to the Salvation Officers--two young +women--who have been dwelling and doing a noble mission work for +months in one of the worst corners of New York's most wretched quarter. +These Officers are not living under the aegis of the Army, however. +The blue bordered flag is furled out of sight, the uniforms and poke +bonnets are laid away, and there are no drums or tambourines. +"The banner over them is love" of their fellow-creatures among whom +they dwell upon an equal plane of poverty, wearing no better clothes +than the rest, eating coarse and scanty food, and sleeping upon hard +cots or upon the floor. Their lives are consecrated to God's service +among the poor of the earth. One is a woman in the early prime of +vigorous life, the other a girl of eighteen. The elder of these +devoted women is awaiting us at the barracks to be our guide to +Slumdom. She is tall, slender, and clad in a coarse brown gown, mended +with patches. A big gingham apron, artistically rent in several +places, is tied about her waist. She wears on old plaid woollen shawl +and an ancient brown straw hat. Her dress indicates extreme poverty, +her face denotes perfect peace. "This is Em," says Mrs. Ballington +Booth, and after this introduction we sally forth. + +More and more wretched grows the district as we penetrate further Em +pauses before a dirty, broken, smoke-dimmed window, through which in a +dingy room are seen a party of roughs, dark-looking men, drinking and +squabbling at a table. "They are our neighbours in the front." +We enter the hall-way and proceed to the rear room. It is tiny, +but clean and warm. A fire burns on the little cracked stove, +which stands up bravely on three legs, with a brick eking out its +support at the fourth corner. A tin lamp stands on the table, +half-a-dozen chairs, one of which has arms, but must have renounced its +rockers long ago, and a packing box, upon which we deposit our shawls, +constitute the furniture. Opening from this is a small dark bedroom, +with one cot made up and another folded against the wall. Against a +door, which must communicate with the front room, in which we saw the +disagreeable-looking men sitting, is a wooden table for the hand-basin. +A small trunk and a barrel of clothing complete the inventory. + +Em's sister in the slum work gives us a sweet shy welcome. She is a +Swedish girl, with the fair complexion and crisp, bright hair peculiar +to the Scandinavian blonde-type. Her head reminds me of a Grenze that +hangs in the Louvre, with its low knot of rippling hair, which fluffs +out from her brow and frames a dear little face with soft childish +outlines, a nez retrousse, a tiny mouth, like a crushed pink rose, +and wistful blue eyes. This girl has been a Salvationist for two +years. During that time she has learned to speak, read, and write +English, while she has constantly laboured among the poor and wretched. +The house where we find ourselves was formerly notorious as one of the +worst in the Cherry Hill district. It has been the scene of some +memorable crimes, and among them that of the Chinaman who slew his +Irish wife, after the manner of "Jack the Ripper," on the staircase +leading to the second floor. A notable change has taken place in the +tenement since Mattie and Em have lived there, and their gentle +influence is making itself felt in the neighbouring houses as well. +It is nearly eight o'clock when we sally forth. Each of us carries a +handful of printed slips bearing a text of Scripture and a few words of +warning to lead the better life. + +"These furnish an excuse for entering places where otherwise we could +not go," explains Em. + +After arranging a rendezvous, we separate. Mattie and Liz go off in +one direction, and Em and I in another. From this our progress seems +like a descent into Tartarus. Em pauses before a miserable-looking +saloon, pushes open the low, swinging door, and we go in. +It is a low-ceiled room, dingy with dirt, dim with the smoke, +nauseating with the fumes of sour beer and vile liquor. A sloppy bar +extends along one side, and opposite is a long table, with +indescribable viands littered over it, interspersed with empty glasses, +battered hats, and cigar stumps. A motley crowd of men and women +jostle in the narrow space. Em speaks to the soberest looking of the +lot. He listens to her words, others crowd about. Many accept the +slips we offer, and gradually as the throng separates to make way, +we gain the further end of the apartment. Em's serious, sweet, +saint-like face I follow like a star. All sense of fear slips from me, +and a great pity fills my soul as I look upon the various types of +wretchedness. + +As the night wears on, the whole apartment seems to wake up. +Every house is alight; the narrow sidewalks and filthy streets are full +of people. Miserable little children, with sin-stamped faces, +dart about like rats; little ones who ought to be in their cribs shift +for themselves, and sleep on cellar doors and areas, and under carts; +a few vendors are abroad with their wares, but the most of the traffic +going on is of a different description. Along Water Street are women +conspicuously dressed in gaudy colours. Their heavily-painted faces +are bloated or pinched; they shiver in the raw night air. Liz speaks +to one, who replies that she would like to talk, but dare not, +and as she says this an old hag comes to the door and cries: +"Get along; don't hinder her work! During the evening a man to whom Em +has been talking has told her: --"You ought to join the Salvation Army; +they are the only good women who, bother us down here. I don't want to +lead that sort of life; but I must go where it is light and warm and +clean after working all day, and there isn't any place but this to come +to" exclaimed the man. "You will appreciate the plea to-morrow when +you see how the people live," Em says, as we turn our steps toward the +tenement room, which seems like an oasis of peace and purity after the +howling desert we have been wandering in. Em and Mattie brew some +oatmeal gruel, and being chilled and faint we enjoyed a cup of it. +Liz and I share a cot in the outer room. We are just going to sleep +when agonised cries ring out through the night; then the tones of a +woman's voice pleading pitifully reach our ears. We are unable to +distinguish her words, but the sound is heart-rending. It comes from +one of those dreadful Water Street houses, and we all feel that a +tragedy is taking place. There is a sound of crashing blows and then +silence. + +It is customary in the slums to leave the house door open perpetually, +which is convenient for tramps, who creep into the hall-ways to sleep +at night, thereby saving the few pence it costs to occupy a "spot" in +the cheap lodging houses. Em and Mat keep the corridor without their +room beautifully clean, and so it has become an especial favourite +stamping ground for these vagrants. We were told this when Mattie +locked and bolted the door and then tied the keys and the door-handle +together. So we understand why there are shuffling steps along the +corridor, bumping against the panels of the door, and heavily breathing +without during the long hours of the night. + +All day Em and Mat have been toiling among their neighbours, and the +night before last they sat up with a dying woman. They are worn out +and sleep heavily. Liz and I lie awake and wait for the coming of the +morning; we are too oppressed by what we have seen and heard to talk. + +In the morning Liz and I peep over into the rear houses where we +heard those dreadful shrieks in the night. There is no sign of life, +but we discover enough filth to breed diphtheria and typhoid throughout +a large section. In the area below our window there are several inches +of stagnant water, in which is heaped a mass of old shoes, cabbage +heads, garbage, rotten wood, bones, rags and refuse, and a few dead rats. +We understand now why Em keeps her room full of disinfectants. +She tells us that she dare not make any appeal to the sanitary +authorities, either on behalf of their own or any other dwelling, +for fear of antagonizing the people, who consider such officials as +their natural enemies. + +The first visit we pay is up a number of eccentric little flights of +shaky steps interspersed with twists of passageway. The floor is full +of holes. The stairs have been patched here and there, but look +perilous and sway beneath the feet, A low door on the landing is opened +by a bundle of rags and filth, out of which issues a woman's voice in +husky tones, bidding us enter. She has La grippe. We have to stand +very close together, for the room is small, and already contains three +women, a man, a baby, a bedstead, a stove, and indescribable dirt. +The atmosphere is rank with impurity. The man is evidently dying. +Seven weeks ago he was "gripped." He is now in the last stages of +pneumonia. Em has tried to induce him to be removed to the hospital, +and he gasps out his desire "to die in comfort in my own bed." Comfort! +The "bed' is a rack heaped with rags. Sheets, pillow-cases, and +night-clothes are not in vogue in the slums. A woman lies asleep on +the dirty floor with her head under the table. Another woman, who has +been sharing the night watch with the invalid's wife, is finishing her +morning meal, in which roast oysters on the half shell are conspicuous. +A child that appears never to have been washed toddles about the floor +and tumbles over the sleeping woman's form. Em gives it some gruel, +and ascertains that its name is "Christine." + +The dirt, crowding, and smells in the first place are characteristic of +half a dozen others we visited. We penetrate to garrets and descend +into cellars. The "rear houses" are particularly dreadful. Everywhere +there is decaying garbage lying about, and the dead cats and rats are +evidence that there are mighty hunters among the gamins of the Fourth +Ward. We find a number ill from the grip and consequent maladies. +None of the sufferers will entertain the thought of seeking a hospital. +One probably voices the opinion of the majority when he declares that +"they'll wash you to death there." For these people a bath possesses +more terror than the gallows or the grave. + +In one room, with a wee window, lies a women dying of consumption; +wasted wan, and wretched, lying on rags and swarming with vermin. +Her little son, a boy of eight years, nestles beside her. His cheeks +are scarlet, his eyes feverishly bright, and he has a hard cough. +"It's the chills, mum," says the little chap. Six beds stand close +together in another room; one is empty. Three days ago a woman died +there and the body has just been taken away. It hasn't disturbed the +rest of the inmates to have death present there. A woman is lying on +the wrecks of a bedstead, slats and posts sticking out in every +direction from the rags on which she reposes. + +"It broke under me in the night," she explains. A woman is sick and +wants Liz to say a prayer. We kneel on the filthy floor. Soon all my +faculties are absorbed in speculating which will arrive first, the +"Amen" or the "B flat" which is wending its way to wards me. This time +the bug does not get there, and I enjoy grinding him under the sole of +my Slum shoe when the prayer is ended. + +In another room we find what looks like a corpse. It is a woman in an +opium stupor. Drunken men are brawling around her. + +Returning to our tenement, Em and Liz meet us, and we return to our +experience. The minor details vary slightly, but the story is the same +piteous tale of woe everywhere, and crime abounding, conditions which +only change to a prison, a plunge in the river, or the Potter's field. + +The Dark Continent can show no lower depth of degradation than that +sounded by the dwellers of the dark alleys in Cherry Hill. There isn't +a vice missing in that quarter. Every sin in the Decalogue flourishes +in that feeder of penitentiaries and prisons. And even as its moral +foulness permeates and poisons the veins of our social life so the +malarial filth with which the locality reeks must sooner or later +spread disease and death. + +An awful picture, truly, but one which is to me irradiated with the +love-light which shone in the eyes of "Em's serious, sweet, saintlike +face." + +Here is my second. It was written by a Journalist who had just +witnessed the scene in Whitechapel. He writes: -- + +I had just passed Mr. Barnett's church when I was stopped by a small +crowd at a street corner. There were about thirty or forty men, women, +and children standing loosely together, some others were lounging on +the opposite side of the street round the door of a public-house. +In the centre of the crowd was a plain-looking little woman in +Salvation Army uniform, with her eyes closed, praying the "dear Lord +that he would bless these dear people, and save them, save them now!" +Moved by curiosity, I pressed through the outer fringe of the crowd, +and in doing so, I noticed a woman of another kind, also invoking +Heaven, but in an altogether different fashion. Two dirty tramp-like +men were listening to the prayer, standing the while smoking their +short cutty pipes. For some reason or other they had offended the +woman, and she was giving them a piece of her mind. They stood +stolidly silent while she went at them like a fiend. She had been +good-looking once, but was now horribly bloated with drink, and excited +by passion. I heard both voices at the same time. What a contrast! +The prayer was over now, and a pleading earnest address was being +delivered. + +"You are wrong," said the voice in the centre "you know you are; all +this misery and poverty is a proof of it. You are prodigals. You have +got away from your Father's house, and you are rebelling against Him +every day Can you wonder that there is so much hunger, and oppression, +and wretchedness allowed to come upon you? In the midst of it all your +Father loves you He wants you to return to Him; to turn your backs upon +your sins; abandon your evil doings; give up the drink and the service +of the devil. He has given His Son Jesus Christ to die for you. +He wants to save you. Come to His feet. He is waiting. His arms are +open. I know the devil has got fast hold of you; but Jesus will give +you grace to conquer him. He will help you to master your wicked +habits and your love of drink. But come to Him now. God is love. +He loves me. He loves you. He loves us all. He wants to save us all." + +Clear and strong the voice, eloquent with the fervour of intense +feeling, rang through the little crowd, past which streamed the +ever-flowing tide of East End life. And at the same time that I heard +this pure and passionate invocation to love God and be true to man I +heard a voice on the outskirts, and it said this: "You ---- swine! +I'll knock the vitals out of yer. None of your ---- impudence to me. +---- your ---- eyes, what do you mean by telling me that? You know +what you ha' done, and now you are going to the Salvation Army. +I'll let them know you, you dirty rascal." The man shifted his pipe. +"What's the matter?" "Matter!" screamed the virago hoarsely." ---- +yer life, don't you know what's the matter? I'll matter ye, you ---- +hound. By God! I will, as sure as I'm alive. Matter! you know what's +the matter." And so she went on, the men standing silently smoking +until at last she took herself off her mouth full of oaths and cursing, +to the public-house. It seemed as though the presence, and spirit, +and words of the Officer, who still went on with the message of mercy, +had some strange effect upon them, which made these poor wretches +impervious to the taunting, bitter sarcasms of this brazen, blatant +virago. + +"God is love." Was it not, then, the accents of God's voice that +sounded there above the din of the street and the swearing of the +slums? Yea, verily, and that voice ceases not and will not cease, +so long as the Slum Sisters fight under the banner of the Salvation +Army. + +To form an idea of the immense amount of good, temporal and spiritual, +which the Slum Sister is doing; you need to follow them into the +kennels where they live, preaching the Gospel with the mop and the +scrubbing brush, and driving out the devil with soap and water. +In one of our Slum posts, where the Officer's rooms were on the ground +floor, about fourteen other families lived in the same house. +One little water-closet in the back yard had to do service for the +whole place. As for the dirt, one Officer writes, "It is impossible to +scrub the Homes; some of them are in such a filthy condition. +When they have a fire the ashes are left to accumulate for days. +The table is very seldom, if ever, properly cleaned, dirty cups and +saucers lie about it, together with bits of bread, and if they have +bloaters the bones and heads are left on the table, Sometimes there are +pieces of onions mixed up with the rest. The floors are in a very much +worse condition than the street pavements, and when they are supposed +to clean them they do it with about a pint of dirty water. When they +wash, which is rarely, for washing to them seems an unnecessary work, +they do it in a quart or two of water, and sometimes boil the things in +some old saucepan in which they cook their food. They do this simply +because they have no larger vessel to wash in. The vermin fall off the +walls and ceiling on you while you are standing in the rooms. +Some of the walls are covered with marks where they have killed them. +Many people in the summer sit on the door steps all night, the reason +for this being, that their rooms are so close from the heat and so +unendurable from the vermin that they prefer staying out in the cool +night air. But as they cannot stay anywhere long without drinking, +they send for beer from the neighbouring public--alas! never far away +--and pass it from one doorway to another, the result being singing, +shouting and fighting up till three and four o'clock in the morning." + +I could fill volumes with stories of the war against vermin, which is +part of this campaign in the slums, but the subject is too revolting to +those who are often indifferent to the agonies their fellow creatures +suffer, so long as their sensitive ears are not shocked by the mention +of so painful a subject. Here, for instance, is a sample of the kind +of region in which the Slum Sisters spend themselves: + +"In an apparently respectable street near Oxford street, the Officers +where visiting one day when they saw a very dark staircase leading into +a cellar, and thinking it possible that someone might be there they +attempted to go down, and yet the staircase was so dark they thought it +impossible for anyone to be there. However, they tried again and +groped their way along in the dark for some time until at last they +found the door and entered the room. At first they could not discern +anything because of the darkness. But after they got used to it they +saw a filthy room. There was no fire in the grate, but the fire-place +was heaped up with ashes, an accumulation of several weeks at least. +At one end of the room there was an old sack of rags and bones partly +emptied upon the floor, from which there came a most unpleasant odour. +At the other end lay an old man very ill. The apology for a bed on +which he lay was filthy and had neither sheets nor blankets. +His covering consisted of old rags. His poor wife, who attended on +him, appeared to be a stranger to soap and water. These Slum Sisters +nursed the old people, and on one occasion undertook to do their +washing, and they brought it home to their copper for this purpose, +but it was so infested with vermin that they did not know how to wash +it. Their landlady, who happened to see them, forbade them ever to +bring such stuff there any more. The old man, when well enough, worked +at his trade, which was tailoring. They had two shillings and sixpence +per week from the parish." + +Here is a report from the headquarters of our Slum Brigade as to the +work which the Slum Sisters have done. It is almost four years since +the Slum Work was started in London. The principal work done by our +first Officers was that of visiting the sick, cleansing the homes of +the Slummers, and of feeding the hungry. The following are a few of +the cases of those who have gained temporally, as well as spiritually, +through our work: -- + +Mrs. W.--Of Haggerston Slum. Heavy drinker, wrecked home, husband a +drunkard, place dirty and filthy, terribly poor. Saved now over two +years, home A1., plenty of employment at cane-chair bottoming; husband +now saved also. + +Mrs. R.--Drury Lane Slum. Husband and wife, drunkards; husband +very lazy, only worked when starved in to it. We found them both out +of work, home furnitureless, in debt. She got saved, and our lasses +prayed for him to get work. He did so, and went to it. He fell out +again a few weeks after, and beat his wife. She sought employment at +charing and office cleaning, got it, and has been regularly at work +since. He too got work. He is now a teetotaler. The home is very +comfortable now, and they are putting money in the bank. + +A.M. in the Dials. Was a great drunkard, thriftless, did not go to +the trouble of seeking work. Was in a Slum meeting, heard the Captain +speak on "Seek first the Kingdom of God!" called out and said, +"Do you mean that if I ask God for work, He will give it me?" +Of course she said, "Yes." He was converted that night, found work, +and is now employed in the Gas Works, Old Kent Road. + +Jimmy is a soldier in the Boro' Slum! Was starving when he got +converted through being out of work. Through joining the Army, he was +turned out of his home. He found work, and now owns a coffee-stall in +Billingsgate Market, and is doing well. + +Sergeant R.--Of Marylebone Slum. Used to drink, lived in a wretched +place in the famous Charles Street, had work at two places, at one of +which he got 5s. a week and the other 10s., when he got saved; +this was starvation wages, on which to keep himself, his wife, +and four children. At the 10s. a week work he had to deliver drink for +a spirit merchant; feeling condemned over it, he gave it up, and was +out of work for weeks. The brokers were put in, but the Lord rescued +him just in time. The 5s. a week employer took him afterwards at 18s., +and he is now earning 22s., and has left the ground-floor slum tenement +for a better house. + +H.--Nine Elms Slum. Was saved on Easter Monday, out of work several +weeks before, is a labourer, seems very earnest, in terrible distress. +We allow his wife 2s. 6d. a week for cleaning the hall (to help them). +In addition to that, she gets another 2s. 6d. for nursing, and on that +husband, wife, and a couple of children pay the rent of 2s. a week and +drag out an existence. I have tried to get work for this man, but have +failed. + +T.--Of Rotherhithe Slum. Was a great drunkard, is a carpenter; +saved about nine months ago, but, having to work in a public-house on a +Sunday, he gave it up; he has not been able to get another job, and has +nothing but what we have given him for making seats. + +Emma Y.--Now a Soldier of the Marylebone Slum Post, was a wild young +Slummer when we opened in the Boro'; could be generally seen in the +streets, wretchedly clad, her sleeves turned up, idle, only worked +occasionally, got saved two years ago, had terrible persecution in her +home. We got her a situation, where she has been for nearly eighteen +months, and is now a good servant. + +Lodging-House Frank.--At twenty-one came into the possession of +#750, but, through drink and gambling, lost it all in six or eight +months, and for over seven years he has tramped about from Portsmouth, +through the South of England, and South Wales, from one lodging-house +to another, often starving, drinking when he could get any money; +thriftless, idle, no heart for work. We found him in a lodging-house +six months ago, living with a fallen girl; got them both saved and +married; five weeks after he got work as a carpenter at 30s. a week. +He has a home of his own now, and promises well to make an officer. + +The Officer who furnishes the above reports goes on to say: -- + +I can't call the wretched dwelling home, to which drink had brought +Brother and Sister X. From a life of luxury, they drifted down by +degrees to one room in a Slum tenement, surrounded by drunkards and the +vilest characters. Their lovely half-starved children were compelled +to listen to the foulest language, and hear fighting and quarrelling, +and alas, alas, not only to hear it in the adjoining rooms, but witness +it within their own. For over two years they have been delivered from +the power of the cursed drink. The old rookery is gone, and now they +have a comfortably-furnished home. Their children give evidence of +being truly converted, and have a lively gratitude for their father's +salvation. One boy of eight said, last Christmas Day, "I remember when +we had only dry bread for Christmas; but to-day we had a goose and two +plum-puddings." Brother X. was dismissed in disgrace from his +situation as commercial traveller before his conversion; to-day he is +chief man, next to his employer, in a large business house. + +He says: -- + +I and perfectly satisfied that very few of the lowest strata of Society +are unwilling to work if they could get it. The wretched hand-to-mouth +existence many of them have to live disheartens them, and makes life +with them either a feast or a famine, and drives those who have brains +enough to crime. + +The results of our work in the Slums may be put down as: -- + +1st. A marked improvement in the cleanliness of the homes and + children; disappearance of vermin, and a considerable lessening + of drunkenness. + +2nd. A greater respect for true religion, and especially that of the + Salvation Army. + +3rd. A much larger amount of work is being done now than before our + going there. + +4th. The rescue of many fallen girls. + +5th. The Shelter work seems to us a development of the Slum work. + +In connection with our Scheme, we propose to immediately increase the +numbers of these Slum Sisters, and to add to their usefulness by +directly connecting their operations with the Colony, enabling them +thereby to help the poor people to conditions of life more favourable +to health, morals, and religion. This would be accomplished by getting +some of them employment in the City, which must necessarily result in +better homes and surroundings, or in the opening up for others of a +straight course from the Slums to the Farm Colony. + + +SECTION 2.--THE TRAVELLING HOSPITAL. + +Of course, there is only one real remedy for this state of things, +and that is to take the people away from the wretched hovels in which +they sicken, suffer, and die, with less comfort and consideration than +the cattle in the stalls and styes of many a country Squire. +And this is certainly our ultimate ambition, but for the present +distress something might be done on the lines of district nursing, +which is only in very imperfect operation. + +I have been thinking that if a little Van, drawn by a pony, could be +fitted up with what is ordinarily required by the sick and dying, and +trot round amongst these abodes of desolation, with a couple of nurses +trained for the business, it might be of immense service, without being +very costly. They could have a few simple instruments, so as to draw a +tooth or lance an abscess, and what was absolutely requisite for simple +surgical operations. A little oil-stove for hot water to prepare a +poultice, or a hot foment, or a soap wash, and a number of other +necessaries for nursing, could be carried with ease. + +The need for this will only be appreciated by those who know how +utterly bereft of all the comforts and conveniences for attending to +the smallest matters in sickness which prevails in these abodes of +wretchedness. It may be suggested, why don't the people when they +are ill go to the hospital? To which we simply reply that they won't. +They cling to their own bits of rooms and to the companionship of +the members of their own families, brutal as they often are, +and would rather stay and suffer, and die in the midst of all the +filth and squalor that surrounds them in their own dens, than go to +the big house, which, to them, looks very like a prison. + +The sufferings of the wretched occupants of the Slums that we have been +describing, when sick and unable to help themselves, makes the +organisation of some system of nursing them in their own homes a +Christian duty. Here are a handful of cases, gleaned almost at random +from the reports of our Slum Sisters, which will show the value of the +agency above described: -- + +Many of those who are sick have often only one room, and often several +children. The Officers come across many cases where, with no one to +look after them, they have to lie for hours without food or nourishment +of any kind. Sometimes the neighbours will take them in a cup of tea. +It is really a mystery how they live. + +A poor woman in Drury Lane was paralyzed. She had no one to attend to +her; she lay on the floor, on a stuffed sack, and an old piece of cloth +to cover her. Although it was winter, she very seldom had any fire. +She had no garments to wear, and but very little to eat. + +Another poor woman, who was very ill, was allowed a little money by her +daughter to pay her rent and get her food; but very frequently she had +not the strength to light a fire or to get herself food. She was +parted from her husband because of his cruelty. Often she lay for +hours without a soul to visit or help her. + +Adjutant McClellan found a man lying on a straw mattress in a very bad +condition. The room was filthy; the smell made the Officer feel ill. +The man had been lying for days without having anything done for him. +A cup of water was by his side. The Officers vomited from the terrible +smells of this place. Frequently sick people are found who need the +continual application of hot poultices, but who are left with a cold +one for hours. + +In Marylebone the Officers visited a poor old woman who was very ill. +She lived in an underground back kitchen, with hardly a ray of light +and never a ray of sunshine. Her bed was made up on some egg boxes. +She had no one to look after her, except a drunken daughter, who very +often, when drunk, used to knock the poor old woman about very badly. +The Officers frequently found that she had not eaten any food up to +twelve o'clock, not even a cup of tea to drink. The only furniture in +the room was a small table, an old fender, and a box. The vermin +seemed to be innumerable. + +A poor woman was taken very ill, but, having a small family, she felt +she must get up and wash them. While she was washing the baby she fell +down and was unable to move. Fortunately a neighbour came in soon +after to ask some question, and saw her lying there. She at once ran +and fetched another neighbour. Thinking the poor woman was dead, they +got her into bed and sent for a doctor. He said she was in consumption +and required quiet and nourishment. This the poor woman could not get, +on account of her children. She got up a few hours afterwards. As she +was going downstairs she fell down again. The neighbour picked her up +and put her back to bed, where for a long time she lay thoroughly +prostrated. The Officers took her case in hand, fed, and nursed her, +cleaned her room and generally looked after her. + +In another dark slum the Officers found a poor old woman in an +underground back kitchen. She was suffering with some complaint. +When they knocked at the door she was terrified for fear it was the +landlord. The room was in a most filthy condition, never having +been cleaned. She had a penny paraffin lamp which filled the room +with smoke. The old woman was at times totally unable to do anything +for herself. The Officers looked after her. + +SECTION 3. REGENERATlON OF OUR CRIMINALS.--THE PRISON GATE BRIGADE + +Our Prisons ought to be reforming institutions, which should turn men +out better than when they entered their doors. As a matter of fact +they are often quite the reverse. There are few persons in this world +more to be pitied than the poor fellow who has served his first term of +imprisonment or finds himself outside the gaol doors without a +character, and often without a friend in the world. Here, again, +the process of centralization, gone on apace of late years, however +desirable it maybe in the interests of administration, tells with +disastrous effects on the poor wretches who are its victims. + +In the old times, when a man was sent to prison, the gaol stood within +a stone's throw of his home. When he came out he was at any rate close +to his old friends and relations, who would take him in and give him a +helping hand to start once more a new life. But what has happened +owing to the desire of the Government to do away with as many local +gaols as possible? The prisoners, when convicted, are sent long +distances by rail to the central prisons, and on coming out find +themselves cursed with the brand of the gaol bird, so far from home, +character gone, and with no one to fall back upon for counsel, or to +give them a helping hand. No wonder it is reported that vagrancy has +much increased in some large towns on account of discharged prisoners +taking to begging, having no other resource. + +In the competition for work no employer is likely to take a man who is +fresh from gaol; nor are mistresses likely to engage a servant whose +last character was her discharge from one of Her Majesty's prisons. +It is incredible how much mischief is often done by well-meaning +persons, who, in struggling towards the attainment of an excellent end +--such, for instance, as that of economy and efficiency in prison +administration--forget entirely the bearing which their reforms may +have upon the prisoners themselves. + +The Salvation Army has at least one great qualification for dealing +with this question I believe I am in the proud position of being at the +head of the only religious body which has always some of its members in +gaol for conscience' sake. We are also one of the few religious bodies +which can boast that many of those who are in our ranks have gone +through terms of penal servitude. We, therefore, know the prison at +both ends. Some men go to gaol because they are better than their +neighbours, most men because they are worse. Martyrs, patriots, +reformers of all kinds belong to the first category. No great cause +has ever achieved a triumph before it has furnished a certain quota to +the prison population. The repeal of an unjust law is seldom carried +until a certain number of those who are labouring for the reform have +experienced in their own persons the hardships of fine and imprisonment. +Christianity itself would never have triumphed over the Paganism of +ancient Rome had the early Christians not been enabled to testify from +the dungeon and the arena as to the sincerity and serenity of soul with +which they could confront their persecutors, and from that time down to +the successful struggles of our people for the right of public meeting +at Whitchurch and elsewhere, the Christian religion and the liberties +of men have never failed to demand their quota of martyrs for the +faith. + +When a man has been to prison in the best of causes he learns to look +at the question of prison discipline with a much more sympathetic eye +for those who are sent there, even for the worst offences, than judges +and legislators who only look at the prison from the outside. +"A fellow-feeling makes one wondrous kind," and it is an immense +advantage to us in dealing with the criminal classes that many of our +best Officers have themselves been in a prison cell. Our people, thank +God, have never learnt to regard a prisoner as a mere convict--A 234. +He is ever a human being to them, who is to be cared for and looked +after as a mother looks after her ailing child. At present there seems +to be but little likelihood of any real reform in the interior of our +prisons. We have therefore to wait until the men come outside, in +order to see what, can be done. Our work begins when that of the +prison authorities ceases. We have already had a good deal of +experience in this work, both here and in Bombay, in Ceylon, +in South Africa, in Australia and elsewhere, and as the nett result of +our experience we proceed now to set forth the measures we intend to +adopt, some of which are already in successful operation. + +1. We propose the opening of Homes for this class as near as possible + to the different gaols. One for men has just been taken at + King's Cross, and will be occupied as soon as it can be got ready. + One for women must follow immediately. Others will be required in + different parts of the Metropolis, and contiguous to each of its + great prisons. Connected with these Homes will be workshops in + which the inmates will be regularly employed until such time as we + can get them work elsewhere. For this class must also work, + not only as a discipline, but as the means for their own support. + +2. In order to save, as far as possible, first offenders from the + contamination of prison life, and to prevent the formation of + further evil companionships, and the recklessness which follows the + loss of character entailed by imprisonment, we would offer, in the + Police and Criminal Courts, to take such offenders under our wing as + were anxious to come and willing to accept our regulations. + The confidence of both magistrates and prisoners would, we think, + soon be secured, the friends of the latter would be mostly on our + side, and the probability, therefore, is that we should soon have a + large number of cases placed under our care on what is known as + "suspended sentence," to be brought up for judgment when called + upon, the record of each sentence to be wiped out on report being + favourable of their conduct in the Salvation Army Home. + +3. We should seek access to the prisons in order to gain such + acquaintance with the prisoners as would enable us the more + effectually to benefit them on their discharge. This privilege, + we think, would be accorded us by the prison authorities when they + became acquainted with the nature of our work and the remarkable + results which followed it. The right of entry into the gaols has + already been conceded to our people in Australia, where they have + free access to, and communion with, the inmates while under going + their sentences. Prisoners are recommended to come to us by the + gaol authorities, who also forward to our people information of the + date and hour when they leave, in order that they may be met on + their release, + +4. We propose to meet the criminals at the prison gates with the offer + of immediate admission to our Homes. The general rule is for them + to be met by their friends or old associates, who ordinarily belong + to the same class. Any way, it would be an exception to the rule + were they not all alike believers in the comforting and cheering + power of the intoxicating cup. Hence the public-house is invariably + adjourned to, where plans for further crime are often decided upon + straight away, resulting frequently, before many weeks are past, + in the return of the liberated convict to the confinement from + which he has just escaped. Having been accustomed during confinement + to the implicit submission of themselves to the will of another, the + newly-discharged prisoner is easily influenced by whoever first gets + hold of him. Now, we propose to be beforehand with these old + companions by taking the gaol-bird under our wing and setting before + him an open door of hope the moment he crosses the threshold of the + prison, assuring him that if he is willing to work and comply with + our discipline, he never need know want any more. + +5. We shall seek from the authorities the privilege of supervising + and reporting upon those who are discharged with tickets-of-leave, + so as to free them from the humiliating and harassing duty of having + to report themselves at the police stations. + +6. We shall find suitable employment for each individual. If not in + possession of some useful trade or calling we will teach him one. + +7. After a certain length of residence in these Homes, if consistent + evidence is given of a sincere purpose to live an honest life, + he will be transferred to the Farm Colony, unless in the meanwhile + friends or old employers take him off our hands, or some other form + of occupation is obtained, in which case he will still be the object + of watchful care. + +We shall offer to all the ultimate possibility of being restored to +Society in this country, or transferred to commence life afresh in +another + +With respect to results we can speak very positively, for although our +operations up to the present, except for a short time some three years +ago, have been limited, and unassisted by the important accessories +above described, yet the success that has at tended them has been most +remarkable. The following are a few instances which might be +multiplied: -- + +J. W. was met at prison gate by the Captain of the Home and offered +help. He declined to come at once as he had friends in Scotland who he +thought would help him; but if they failed, he promised to come. +It was his first conviction, and he had six months for robbing his +employer. His trade was that of a baker. In a few days he presented +himself at the Home, and was received. In the course of a few weeks, +he professed conversion, and gave every evidence of the change. +For four months he was cook and baker in the kitchen, and at last a +situation as second hand was offered for him, with the [sic] + +J. S. Sergeant-major of the Congress Hall Corps. That is three years +ago. He is there to-day, saved, and satisfactory; a thoroughly useful +and respectable man. + +J. P. was an old offender. He was met at Millbank on the expiration +of his last term (five years), and brought to the Home, where he worked +at his trade a tailor. Eventually he got a situation, and has since +married. He has now a good home, the confidence of his neighbours, +is well saved, and a soldier of the Hackney Corps. + +C. M. Old offender, and penal servitude case. Was induced to come to +the Home, got saved, was there for a long period, offered for the work, +and went into the Field, was Lieutenant for two years, and eventually +married. He is now a respectable mechanic and soldier of a Corps in +Derbyshire. + +J. W. Was manager in a large West End millinery establishment. +He was sent out with two ten-pound packages of silver to change. +On his way he met a companion and was induced to take a drink. +In the tavern the companion made an excuse to go outside and did not +return, and W. found one of the packages had been abstracted from his +outside pocket. He was afraid to return, and decamped with the other +into the country. Whilst in a small town he strolled into a Mission +Hall; there happened to be a hitch in the proceedings, the organist was +absent, a volunteer was called for, and W., being a good musician, +offered to play. It seems the music took hold of him. In the middle +of the hymn he walked out and went to the police station and gave +himself up. He got six months. When he came out, he saw that Happy +George, an ex-gaol bird, was announced at the Congress Hall. He went +to the meeting and was induced to come to the Home. He eventually got +saved, and to-day he is at the head of a Mission work in the provinces. + +"Old Dan" was a penal servitude case, and had had several long +sentences. He came into the Home and was saved. He managed the +bootmaking there for a long time. He has since gone into business at +Hackney, and is married. He is of four years' standing, a thorough +respectable tradesman, and a Salvationist. + +Charles C. has done in the aggregate twenty-three years' penal +servitude. Was out on licence, and got saved at the Hull Barracks. +At that time he had neglected to report himself, and had destroyed his +licence, taking an assumed name. When he got saved he gave himself up, +and was taken before the magistrate, who, instead of sending him back +to fulfil his sentence, gave him up to the Army. He was sent to us +from Hull by our representative, is now in our factory and doing well. +He is still under police supervision for five years. + +H. Kelso. Also a licence man. He had neglected to report himself, +and was arrested. While before the magistrate he said he was tired of +dishonesty, and would go to the Salvation Army if they would discharge +him. He was sent back to penal servitude. Application was made by us +to the Home Secretary on his behalf, and Mr. Matthews granted his +release. He was handed over to our Officers at Bristol, brought to +London, and is now in the Factory, saved and doing well. + +E. W. belongs to Birmingham, is in his forty-ninth year, and has been +in and out of prison all his life. He was at Redhill Reformatory five +years, and his last term was five years' penal servitude. The Chaplain +at Pentonville advised him it he really meant reformation to seek the +Salvation Army on his release. He came to Thames Street, was sent to +the Workshop and professed salvation the following Sunday at the +Shelter. This is three months ago. He is quite satisfactory, +industrious, contented and seemingly godly. + +A. B., Gentleman loafer, good prospects, drink and idleness broke up +his home, killed his wife, and got him into gaol. Presbyterian +minister, friend of his family, tried to reclaim him, but +unsuccessfully. He entered the Prison Gate Home, became thoroughly +saved, distributed handbills for the Home, and ultimately got work in a +large printing and publishing works, where, after three years' service, +he now occupies a most responsible position. Is an elder in the +Presbyterian Church, restored to his family, and the possessor of a +happy home. + +W. C., a native of London, a good-for-nothing lad, idle and dissolute. +When leaving England his father warned him that if he didn't alter he'd +end his days on the gallows. Served various sentences on all sorts of +charges. Over six years ago we took him in hand, admitted him into +Prison Gate Brigade Home, where he became truly saved; he got a job of +painting, which he had learnt in gaol, and has married a woman who had +formerly been a procuress, but had passed through our Rescued Sinners' +Home, and there became thoroughly converted. Together they have braved +the storms of life, both working diligently for their living. +They have now a happy little home of their own, and are doing very well. + +F. X., the son of a Government officer, a drunkard, gambler, forger, +and all-round blackguard; served numerous sentences for forgery. +On his last discharge was admitted into Prison Gate Brigade Home, where +he stayed about five months and became truly saved. Although his +health was completely shattered from the effects of his sinful life, +he steadfastly resisted all temptations to drink, and kept true to God. +Through advertising in the War Cry, he found his lost son and daughter, +who are delighted with the wonderful change in their father. They have +become regular attendants at our meetings in the Temperance Hall. +He now keeps a coffee-stall, is doing well, and properly saved. + +G. A., 72, spent 23 years in gaol, last sentence two years for +burglary; was a drunkard, gambler, and swearer. Met on his discharge +by the Prison Gate Brigade, admitted into Home, where he remained four +months, and became truly saved. He is living a consistent, godly life, +and is in employment. + +C. D., aged 64, opium-smoker, gambler, blackguard, separated from wife +and family, and eventually landed in gaol, was met on his discharge and +admitted into Prison Gate Brigade Home, was saved, and is now restored +to his wife and family, and giving satisfaction in his employment. + +S. T. was an idle, loafing, thieving, swearing, disreputable young man, +who lived, when out of gaol, with the low prostitutes of Little Bourke +Street. Was taken in hand by our Prison Gate Brigade Officers, +who got him saved, then found him work. After a few months he +expressed a desire to work for God, and although a cripple, and having +to use a crutch, such was his earnestness that he was accepted and has +done good service as an Army officer. His testimony is good and his +life consistent. He is, indeed, a marvel of Divine grace. + +M. J., a young man holding a high position in England, got into a fast +set; thought a change to the Colonies would be to his advantage. +Started for Australia with #200 odd, of which he spent a good portion +on board ship in drink, soon dissipated the balance on landing, +and woke up one morning to find himself in gaol, with delirium tremens +on him, no money, his luggage lost, and without a friend on the whole +continent. On his discharge he entered our Prison Gate Home, +became converted, and is now occupying a responsible position in a +Colonial Bank. + +B. C., a man of good birth, education, and position; drank himself out +of home and friends and into gaol on leaving which he came to our Home; +was saved, exhibiting by an earnest and truly consistent life the depth +of his conversion, being made instrumental while with us in the +salvation of many who, like himself, had come to utter destitution and +crime through drink. He is now in a first-class situation, getting +#300 a year, wife and family restored, the possessor of a happy home, +and the love of God shed abroad in it. + +I do not produce these samples, which are but a few, taken at random +from the many, for the purpose of boasting. The power which has +wrought these miracles is not in me nor in my Officers; it is power +which comes down from above. But I think I may fairly point to these +cases, in which our instrumentality has been blessed, to the plucking +of these brands from the burning, as affording some justification for +the plea to be enabled to go on with this work on a much more extended +scale. If any other organisation, religious or secular, can show +similar trophies as the result of such limited operations as ours have +hitherto been among the criminal population, I am willing to give place +to them. All that I want is to have the work done. + + +SECTION 4.--EFFECTUAL DELIVERANCE FOR THE DRUNKARD. + +The number, misery, and hopeless condition of the slaves of strong +drink, of both sexes, have been already dealt with at considerable +length. + +We have seen that there are in Great Britain one million of men and +women, or thereabouts, completely under the domination of this cruel +appetite. The utter helplessness of Society to deal with the drunkard +has been proved again and again, and confessed on all hands by those +who have had experience on the subject. As we have before said, the +general feeling of all those who have tried their hands at this kind of +business is one of despair. They think the present race of drunkards +must be left to perish, that every species of effort having proved +vain, the energies expended in the endeavour to rescue the parents will +be laid out to greater advantages upon the children. + +There is a great deal of truth in all this. Our own efforts have been +successful in a very remarkable degree. Some of the bravest, most +devoted, and successful workers in our ranks are men and women who were +once the most abject slaves of the intoxicating cup. Instances of this +have been given already. We might multiply them by thousands. +Still, when compared with the ghastly array which the drunken army +presents to-day, those rescued are comparatively few. The great reason +for this is the simple fact that the vast majority of those addicted to +the cup are its veritable slaves. No amount of reasoning, or earthly +or religious considerations, can have any effect upon a man who is so +completely under the mastery of this passion that he cannot break away +from it, although he sees the most terrible consequences staring him in +the face. + +The drunkard promises and vows, but promises and vows in vain. +Occasionally he will put forth frantic efforts to deliver himself, +but only to fall again in the presence of the opportunity. +The insatiable crave controls him. He cannot get away from it. +It compels him to drink, whether he will or not, and, unless delivered +by an Almighty hand, he will drink himself into a drunkard's grave and +a drunkard's hell. + +Our annals team with successful rescues effected from the ranks of +the drunken army. The following will not only be examples of this, +but will tend to illustrate the strength and madness of the passion +which masters the slave to strong drink. + +Barbara.--She had sunk about as low as any woman could when we found +her. From the age of eighteen, when her parents had forced her to +throw over her sailor sweetheart and marry a man with "good prospects," +she had been going steadily down. + +She did not love her husband, and soon sought comfort from the little +public-house only a few steps from her own door. Quarrels in her home +quickly gave place to fighting, angry curses, and oaths, and soon her +life became one of the most wretched in the place. Her husband made no +pretence of caring for her, and when she was ill and unable to earn +money by selling fish in the streets, he would go off for a few months, +leaving her to keep the house and support herself and babies as best +she could. Out of her twenty years of married life, ten were spent in +these on-and-off separations. And so she got to live for only one +thing--drink. It was life to her; and the mad craving grew to be +irresistible. The woman who looked after her at the birth of her child +refused to fetch her whisky, so when she had done all she could and +left the mother to rest, Barbara crept out of bed and crawled slowly +down the stairs over the way to the tap-room, where she sat drinking +with the baby, not yet an hour old, in her arms. So things went on, +until her life got so unbearable that she determined to have done with +it. Taking her two eldest children with her, she went down to the bay, +and deliberately threw them both into the water, jumping in herself +after them. "Oh, mither, mither, dinna droon me!" wailed her little +three-year-old Sarah, but she was determined and held them under the +water, till, seeing a boat put out to the rescue she knew that she was +discovered. Too late to do it now, she thought, and, holding both +children, swam quickly back to the shore. A made-up story about having +fallen into the water satisfied the boatman, and Barbara returned home +dripping and baffled. But little Sarah did not recover from the shock, +and after a few weeks her short life ended, and she was laid in the +Cemetery. + +Yet another time, goaded to desperation, she tried to take her life +by hanging herself, but a neighbour came in and cut her down +unconscious, but still living. She became a terror to all the +neighbourhood, and her name was the bye-word for daring and desperate +actions. But our Open-Air Meetings attracted her, she came to the +Barracks, got saved, and was delivered from her love of drink and sin. + +From being a dread her home became a sort of house of refuge in the +little low street where she lived; other wives as unhappy as herself +would come in for advice and help. Anyone knew that Barbie was +changed, and loved to do all she could for her neighbours. +A few months ago she came up to the Captain's in great distress over a +woman who lived just opposite. She had been cruelly kicked and cursed +by her husband, who had finally bolted the door against her, and she +had turned to Barbie as the only hope. And of course Barbie took her +in, with her rough-and-ready kindness got her to bed, kept out the +other women who crowded round to sympathise and declaim against the +husband's brutality, was both nurse and doctor for the poor woman till +her child was born and laid in the mother's arms. And then, to +Barbie's distress, she could do no more, for the woman, not daring to +be absent longer, got up as best she could, and crawled on hands and +knees down the little steep steps, across the street, and back to her +own door. "But, Barbie!" exclaimed the Captain, horrified, +"you should have nursed her, and kept her until she was strong enough." +But Barbie answered by reminding the Captain of "John's" fearful +temper, and how it might cost the woman her life to be absent from her +home more than a couple of hours. + +The second is the case of-- + +Maggie.--She had a home, but seldom was sober enough to reach it at +nights. She would fall down on the doorsteps until found by some +passer-by or a policeman. + +In one of her mad freaks a boon-companion happened to offend her. +He was a little hunch-back, and a fellow-drunkard; but without a +moment's hesitation, Maggie seized him and pushed him head-foremost +down the old-fashioned wide sewer of the Scotch town. Had not some one +seen his heel's kicking out and rescued him, he would surley have been +suffocated. + +One winter's night Maggie had been drinking heavily, fighting, too, +as usual, and she staggered only as far, on her way home, as the narrow +chain-pier. Here she stumbled and fell, and lay along on the snow, the +blood oozing from her cuts, and her hair spread out in a tangled mass. + +At 5 in the morning, some factory girls, crossing the bridge to their +work, came upon her, lying stiff and stark amidst the snow and +darkness. + +To rouse her from her drunken sleep was hard, but to raise her from the +ground was still harder. The matted hair and blood had frozen fast to +the earth, and Maggie was a prisoner. After trying to free her in +different ways, and receiving as a reward volleys of abuse and bad +language, one of the girl's ran for a kettle of boiling water, and by +pouring it all around her, they succeeded by degrees in melting her on +to her feet again! But she came to our Barracks, and got soundly +converted, and the Captain was rewarded for nights and days of toil by +seeing her a saved and sober woman. + +All went right till a friend asked her to his house, to drink his +health, and that of his newly-married wife. "I wouldn't ask you to +take anything strong," he said. "Drink to me with this lemonade." +And Maggie, nothing suspecting, drank, and as she drank tasted in the +glass her old enemy, whisky! The man laughed at her dismay, but a +friend rushed off to tell the Captain. "I may be in time, she has not +really gone back"; and the Captain ran to the house, tying her bonnet +strings as she ran. "It's no good--keep awa'--I don't want to +see'er, Captain," wailed Maggie "let me have some more--oh, I'm on +fire inside." But the Captain was firm, and taking her to her home, +she locked herself in with the woman, and sat with the key in her +pocket, while Maggie, half mad with craving, paced the floor like a +caged animal, threatening and entreating by terms. "Never while I live," +was all the answer she could get; so she turned to the door, and busied +herself there a moment or two. A clinking noise. The Captain started +up--to see the door open and Maggie rush through it! Accustomed to +stealing and all its "dodges," she had taken the lock off the door, +and was away to the nearest public-house. + +Down the stairs, Captain after her, into the gin palace; but before the +astonished publican could give her the drink she was clamouring for, +the "bonnet" was by her side, "If you dare to serve her, I'll break the +glass before it reaches her lips. She shall not have any!" and so +Maggie was coaxed away, and shielded till the passion was over, and she +was Herself once more. + +But the man who gave her the whisky durst not leave his house for +weeks. The roughs got to know of the trap he had laid for her, +and would have lynched him could they have got hold of him. + +The third is the case of Rose. + +Rose was ruined, deserted, and left to the streets when only a girl of +thirteen, by a once well-to-do man, who is now, we believe, closing his +days in a workhouse in the North of England. + +Fatherless, motherless, and you might almost say friendless, Rose trod +the broad way to destruction, with all its misery and shame, for twelve +long years. Her wild, passionate nature, writhing under the wrong +suffered, sought forgetfulness in the intoxicating cup, and she soon +became a notorious drunkard. Seventy-four times during her career she +was dragged before the magistrates, and seventy-four times, with one +exception, she was punished, but the seventy-fourth time she was +as far off reformation as ever. The one exception happened on the +Queen's Jubilee Day. On seeing her well-known face again before him, the +magistrate enquired, "How many times has this woman been here before?" + +The Police Superintendent answered, "Fifty times." The magistrate +remarked, in somewhat grim humour, "Then this is her Jubilee," and, +moved by the coincidence, he let her go free. So Rose spent her +jubilee out of prison. + +It is a wonder that the dreadful, drunken, reckless, dissipated life +she lived did not hurry her to an early grave; it did affect her +reason, and for three weeks she was locked up in Lancaster Lunatic +Asylum, having really gone mad through drink and sin. + +In evidence of her reckless nature, it is said that after her second +imprisonment she vowed she would never again walk to the police +station; consequently, when in her wild orgies the police found it +necessary to arrest her, they had to get her to the police station as +best they could, sometimes by requisitioning a wheelbarrow or a cart, +or the use of a stretcher, and sometimes they had to carry her right +out. On one occasion, towards the close of her career, when driven to +the last-named method, four policemen were carrying her to the station, +and she was extra violent, screaming, plunging and biting, when, either +by accident or design, one of the policemen let go of her head, and it +came in contact with the curbstone, causing the blood to pour forth in +a stream. As soon as they placed her in the cell the poor creature +caught the blood in her hands, and literally washed her face with it. +On the following morning she presented a pitiable sight, and before +taking her into the court the police wanted to wash her, but she +declared she would draw any man's blood who attempted to put a finger +upon her; they had spilt her blood, and she would carry it into the +court as a witness against them. On coming out of gaol for the last +time, she met with a few Salvationists beating the drum and singing +"Oh! the Lamb, the bleeding Lamb; He was found worthy." Rose, struck +with the song, and impressed with the very faces of the people, +followed them, saying to herself, "I never before heard anything like +that, or seen such happy looking people." She came into the Barracks; +her heart was broken; she found her way to the Penitent Form, and +Christ, with His own precious blood, washed her sins away. She arose +from her knees and said to the Captain, "It is all right now." + +Three months after her conversion a great meeting was held in the +largest hall in the town, where she was known to almost every inhabitant. +There were about three thousand people present. Rose was called upon +to give her testimony to the power of God to save. A more enthusiastic +wave of sympathy never greeted any speaker than that which met her from +that crowd, every one of whom was familiar with her past history. +After a few broken words, in which she spoke of the wonderful change +that had taken place, a cousin, who, like herself, had lived a +notoriously evil life, came to the Cross. + +Rose is now War Cry sergeant. She goes into the brothels and +gin palaces and other haunts of vice, from which she was rescued, +and sells more papers than any other Soldier. + +The Superintendent of Police, soon after her conversion, told the +Captain at the Corps that in rescuing Rose a more wonderful work had +been done than he had seen in all the years gone by. + +S. was a native of Lancashire, the son of poor, but pious, parents. +He was saved when sixteen years of age. He was first an Evangelist, +then a City Missionary for five or six years, and afterwards a Baptist +Minister. He then fell under the influence of drink, resigned, +and became a commercial traveller, but lost his berth through drink. +He was then an insurance agent, and rose to be superintendent, but was +again dismissed through drink. During his drunken career he had +delirium tremens four times, attempted suicide three times, sold up six +homes, was in the workhouse with his wife and family three times. +His last contrivance for getting drink was to preach mock sermons, +and offer mock prayers in the tap-rooms. + +After one of these blasphemous performances in a public-house, on the +words, "Are you Saved?" he was challenged to go to the Salvation +Barracks. He went, and the Captain, who knew him well, at once made +for him, to plead for his soul, but S. knocked him down, and rushed +back to the public-house for more drink. He was, however, so moved by +what he had heard that he was unable to raise the liquor to his mouth, +although he made three attempts. He again returned to the meeting, +and again quitted it for the public-house. He could not rest, and for +the third time he returned to the Barracks. As he entered the last +time the Soldiers were singing: -- + + "Depth of mercy, can there be + Mercy still reserved for me? + Can my God his wrath forbear? + Me, the chief of Sinners, spare? + +This song impressed him still further; he wept, and remained in the +Barracks under deep conviction until midnight. He was drunk all the +next day, vainly trying to drown his convictions. The Captain visited +him at night, but was quickly thrust out of the house. He was there +again next morning, and prayed and talked with S. for nearly two hours. +Poor S. was in despair. He persisted that there was no mercy for him. +After a long struggle, however, hope sprung up, he fell upon his knees, +confessed his sins, and obtained forgiveness. + +When this happened, his furniture consisted of a soap-box for a table, +and starch boxes for chairs. His wife, himself, and three children, +had not slept in a bed for three years. He has now a happy family, +a comfortable home, and has been the means of leading numbers of other +slaves of sin to the Saviour, and to a truly happy life. + +Similar cases, describing the deliverance of drunkards from the bondage +of strong drink, could be produced indefinitely. There are Officers +marching in our ranks to-day, who where once gripped by this fiendish +fascination, who have had their fetters broken, and are now free men in +the Army. Still the mighty torrent of Alcohol, fed by ten thousand +manufactories, sweeps on, bearing with it, I have no hesitation in +saying, the foulest, bloodiest tide that ever flowed from earth to +eternity. The Church of the living God ought not--and to say nothing +about religion, the people who have any humanity ought not, to rest +without doing something desperate to rescue this half of a million who +are in the eddying maelstrom. We purpose, therefore, the taking away +of the people from the temptation which they cannot resist. We would +to God that the temptation could be taken away from them, that every +house licensed to send forth the black streams of bitter death were +closed, and closed for ever. But this will not be, we fear, for the +present at least. + +While in one case drunkenness may be resolved into a habit, in another +it must be accounted a disease. What is wanted in the one case, +therefore, is some method of removing the man out of the sphere of the +temptation, and in the other for treating the passion as a disease, +as we should any other physical affection, bringing to bear upon it +every agency, hygienic and otherwise, calculated to effect a cure. + +The Dalrymple Homes, in which, on the order of a magistrate and by +their own consent, Inebriates can be confined for a time, have been a +partial success in dealing with this class in both these respects; +but they are admittedly too expensive to be of any service to the poor. +It could never be hoped that working people of themselves, or with the +assistance of their friends, would be able to pay two pounds a week for +the privilege of being removed away from the licensed temptations to +drink which surround them at every step. Moreover, could they obtain +admission they would feel themselves anything but at ease amongst the +class who avail themselves of these institutions. We propose to +establish Homes which will contemplate the deliverance, not of ones and +twos, but of multitudes, and which will be accessible to the poor, +or to persons of any class choosing to use them. This is our national +vice, and it demands nothing short of a national remedy--anyway, +one of proportions large enough to be counted national. + +1. To begin with, there will be City Homes, into which a man can be + taken, watched over, kept out of the way of temptation, and if + possible delivered from the power of this dreadful habit. + +In some cases persons would be taken in who are engaged in business in +the City in the day, being accompanied by an attendant to and from the +Home. In this case, of course, adequate remuneration for this extra +care would be required. + +2. Country Homes, which we shall conduct on the Dalrymple principle; + that is, taking persons for compulsory confinement, they binding + themselves by a bond confirmed by a magistrate that they would + remain for a certain period. The general regulations for both + establishments would be something as follows: -- + + (1). There would be only one class in each establishment. If it was + found that the rich and the poor did not work comfortably + together, separate institutions must be provided. + (2). All would alike have to engage in some remunerative form of + employment. Outdoor work would be preferred, but indoor + employment would be arranged for those for whom it was most + suitable, and in such weather and at such times of the year when + garden work was impracticable. + (3). A charge of 10s. per week would be made. This could be + remitted when there was no ability to pay it. + +The usefulness of such Homes is too evident to need any discussion. +There is one class of unfortunate creatures who must be objects of pity +to all who have any knowledge of their existence, and that is, those +men and women who are being continually dragged before the magistrates, +of whom we are constantly reading in the police reports, whose lives +are spent in and out of prison, at an enormous cost to the country, +and without any benefit to themselves. + +We should then be able to deal with this class. It would be possible +for a magistrate, instead of sentencing the poor wrecks of humanity to +the sixty-fourth and one hundred and twentieth term of imprisonment, +to send them to this Institution, by simply remanding them to come up +for sentence when called for. How much cheaper such an arrangement +would be for the country! + + +SECTION 5.--A NEW WAY OF ESCAPE FOR LOST WOMEN. THE RESCUE HOMES. + +Perhaps there is no evil more destructive of the best interests of +Society, or confessedly more difficult to deal with remedially, +than that which is known as the Social Evil. We have already seen +something of the extent to which this terrible scourge has grown, +and the alarming manner in which it affects our modern civilisation. + +We have already made an attempt at grappling with this evil, having +about thirteen Homes in Great Britain, accommodating 307 girls under +the charge of 132 Officers, together with seventeen Homes abroad, +open for the same purpose. The whole, although a small affair compared +with the vastness of the necessity, nevertheless constitutes perhaps +the largest and most efficient effort of its character in the world. + +It is difficult to estimate the results that have been already +realised. By our varied operations, apart from these Homes, probably +hundreds, if not thousands, have been delivered from lives of shame and +misery. We have no exact return of the number who have gone through +the Homes abroad, but in connection with the work in this country, +about 3,000 have been rescued, and are living lives of virtue. + +This success has not only been gratifying on account of the blessing it +has brought these young women, the gladness it has introduced to the +homes to which they have been restored, and the benefit it has bestowed +upon Society, but because it has assured us that much greater results +of the same character may be realised by operations conducted on a +larger scale, and under more favourable circumstances. + +With this view we propose to remodel and greatly increase the number of +our Homes both in London and the provinces, establishing one in every +great centre of this infamous traffic. + +To make them very largely Receiving Houses, where the girls will be +initiated into the system of reformation, tested as to the reality of +their desires for deliverance, and started forward on the highway of +truth, virtue, and religion. + +From these Homes large numbers, as at present, would be restored to +their friends and relatives, while some would be detained in training +for domestic service, and others passed on to the Farm Colony. + +On the Farm they would be engaged in various occupations. +In the Factory, at Bookbinding and Weaving; in the Garden and +Glasshouses amongst fruit and flowers; in the Dairy, making butter; +in all cases going through a course of House-work which will fit them +for domestic service. + +At every stage the same process of moral and religious training, +on which we specially rely, will be carried forward. + +There would probably be a considerable amount of inter-marriage amongst +the Colonists, and in this way a number of these girl's would be +absorbed into Society. + +A large number would be sent abroad as domestic servants. In Canada, +the girls are taken out of the Rescue Homes as servants, with no other +reference than is gained by a few weeks' residence there, and are paid +as much as #3 a month wages. The scarcity of domestic servants in the +Australian Colonies, Western States of America, Africa, and elsewhere +is well known. And we have no doubt that on all hands our girls with +12 months' character will be welcomed, the question of outfit and +passage-money being easily arranged for by the persons requiring their +services advancing the amount, with an understanding that it is to be +deducted out of their first earnings. + +Then we have the Colony Over-Sea, which will require the service of a +large number. Very few families will go out who will not be very glad +to take a young woman with them, not as a menial servant, but as a +companion and friend. + +By this method we should be able to carry out Rescue work on a much +larger scale. At present two difficulties very largely block our way. +One is the costliness of the work. The expense of rescuing a girl on +the present plan cannot be much less than #7; that is, if we include +the cost of those with whom we fail, and on whom the money is largely +thrown away. Seven pounds is certainly not a very large sum for the +measure of benefit bestowed upon the girl by bringing her off the +streets, and that which is bestowed on Society by removing her from her +evil course. Still, when the work runs into thousands of individuals, +the amount required becomes considerable. On the plan proposed we +calculate that from the date of their reaching the Farm Colony they +will earn nearly all that is required for their support. + +The next difficulty which hinders our expansion in this department is +the want of suitable and permanent situations, Although we have been +marvellously successful so far, having at this hour probably 1,200 +girls in domestic service alone, still the difficulty in this respect +is great. Families are naturally shy at receiving these poor +unfortunates when they can secure the help they need combined with +unblemished character; and we cannot blame them. + +Then, again, it can easily be understood that the monotony of domestic +service in this country is not altogether congenial to the tastes of +many of these girls, who have been accustomed to a life of excitement +and freedom. This can be easily understood. To be shut up seven days +a week with little or no intercourse, either with friends or with the +outside world, beyond that which comes of the weekly Church service or +"night out" with nowhere to go, as many of them are tied off from the +Salvation Army Meetings, becomes very monotonous, and in hours of +depression it is not to be wondered at if a few break down in their +resolutions, and fall back into their old ways. + +On the plan we propose there is something to cheer these girls forward. +Life on the farm will be attractive. From there they can go to a new +country and begin the world afresh, with the possibility of being +married and having a little home of their own some day. With such +prospects, we think, they will be much more likely to fight their way +through seasons of darkness and temptation than as at present. + +This plan will also make the task of rescuing the girls much more +agreeable to the Officers engaged in it. They will have this future to +dwell upon as an encouragement to persevere with the girls, and will be +spared one element at least in the regret they experience, when a girl +falls back into old habits, namely, that she earned the principal part +of the money that has been expended upon her. + +That girls can be rescued and blessedly saved even now, despite all +their surroundings, we have many remarkable proofs. Of these take one +or two as examples: -- + +J. W. was brought by our Officers from a neighbourhood which has, +by reason of the atrocities perpetrated in it, obtained an unenviable +renown, even among similar districts of equally bad character. + +She was only nineteen. A country girl. She had begun the struggle for +life early as a worker in a large laundry, and at thirteen years of age +was led away by an inhuman brute. The first false step taken, +her course on the downward road was rapid, and growing restless and +anxious for more scope than that afforded in a country town, she came +up to London. + +For some time she lived the life of extravagance and show, known to +many of this class for a short time--having plenty of money, +fine clothes, and luxurious surroundings until the terrible disease +seized her poor body, and she soon found herself deserted, homeless and +friendless, an outcast of Society. + +When we found her she was hard and impenitent, difficult to reach even +with the hand of love; but love won, and since that time she has been +in two or three situations, a consistent Soldier of an Army corps, +and a champion War Cry seller. + +A TICKET-OF-LEAVE WOMAN. + +A. B. was the child of respectable working people--Roman Catholics-- +but was early left an orphan. She fell in with bad companions, +and became addicted to drink, going from bad to worse until +drunkenness, robbery, and harlotry brought her to the lowest depths. +She passed seven years in prison, and after the last offence was +discharged with seven years' police supervision. Failing to report +herself, she was brought before the bench. + +The magistrate inquired whether she had ever had a chance in a Home of +any kind. "She is too old, no one will take her," was the reply, +but a Detective present, knowing a little about the Salvation Army, +stepped forward and explained to the magistrate th at he did not think +the Salvation Army refused any who applied. She was formally handed +over to us in a deplorable condition, her clothing the scantiest and +dirtiest. For over three years she has given evidence of a genuine +reformation, during which time she has industriously earned her own +living. + +A WILD WOMAN. + +In visiting a slum in a town in the North of England, our Officers +entered a hole, unfit to be called a human habitation--more like the +den of some wild animal--almost the only furniture of which was a +filthy iron bedstead, a wooden box to serve for table and chair, +while an old tin did duty as a dustbin. + +The inhabitant of this wretched den was a poor woman, who fled into the +darkest corner of the place as our Officer entered. This poor wretch +was the victim of a brutal man, who never allowed her to venture +outside the door, keeping her alive by the scantiest allowance of food. +Her only clothing consisted of a sack tied round her body. Her feet +were bare, her hair matted and foul, presenting on the whole such an +object as one could scarcely imagine living in a civilised country. + +She had left a respectable home, forsaken her husband and family, +and sunk so low that the man who then claimed her boasted to the +Officer that he had bettered her condition by taking her off the +streets. + +We took the poor creature away, washed and clothed her; and, changed in +heart and life, she is one more added to the number of those who rise +up to bless the Salvation Army workers. + + +SECTION 6.--A PREVENTIVE HOME FOR UNFALLEN GIRLS WHEN IN DANGER. + +There is a story told likely enough to be true about a young girl who +applied one evening for admission to some home established for the +purpose of rescuing fallen women. The matron naturally inquired +whether she had forfeited her virtue; the girl replied in the negative. +She had been kept from that infamy, but she was poor and friendless, +and wanted somewhere to lay her head until she could secure work, +and obtain a home. The matron must have pitied her, but she could not +help her as she did not belong to the class for whose benefit the +Institution was intended. The girl pleaded, but the matron could not +alter the rule, and dare not break it, they were so pressed to find +room for their own poor unfortunates, and she could not receive her. +The poor girl left the door reluctantly but returned in a very short +time, and said, "I am fallen now, will you take me in?" + +I am somewhat slow to credit this incident; anyway it is true in +spirit, and illustrates the fact that while there are homes to which +any poor, ruined, degraded harlot can run for shelter, there is only +here and there a corner to which a poor friendless, moneyless, +homeless, but unfallen girl can fly for shelter from the storm which +bids fair to sweep her away whether she will or no into the deadly +vortex of ruin which gapes beneath her. + +In London and all our large towns there must be a considerable number +of poor girls who from various causes are suddenly plunged into this +forlorn condition; a quarrel with the mistress and sudden discharge, +a long bout of disease and dismissal penniless from the hospital, +a robbery of a purse, having to wait for a situation until the last +penny is spent, and many other causes will leave a girl an almost +hopeless prey to the linx-eyed villains who are ever watching to take +advantage of innocence when in danger. Then, again, what a number +there must be in a great city like London who are ever faced with the +alternative of being turned out of doors if they refuse to submit +themselves to the infamous overtures of those around them. +I understand that the Society for the Protection of Children prosecuted +last year a fabulous number of fathers for unnatural sins with their +children. If so many were brought to justice, how many were there of +whom the world never heard in any shape or form? We have only to +imagine how many a poor girl is, faced with the terrible alternative of +being driven literally into the streets by employers or relatives or +others in whose power she is unfortunately placed. + +Now, we want a real home for such--a house to which any girl can fly +at any hour of the day or night, and be taken in, cared for, shielded +from the enemy, and helped into circumstances of safety. + +The Refuge we propose will be very much on the same principle as the +Homes for the Destitute already described. We should accept any girls, +say from fourteen years of age, who were without visible means of +support, but who were willing to work, and to conform to discipline. +There would be various forms of labour provided, such as laundry work, +sewing, knitting by machines, &c. Every beneficial influence within +our power would be brought to bear on the rectification and formation +of character. Continued efforts would be made to secure situations +according to the adaptation of the girls, to restore wanderers to their +homes, and otherwise provide for all. From this, as with the other +Homes, there will be a way made to the Farm and to the Colony over the +sea. The institutions would be multiplied as we had means and found +them to be necessary, and made self-supporting as far as possible. + + +SECTION 7.--ENQUIRY OFFICE FOR LOST PEOPLE. + +Perhaps nothing more vividly suggests the varied forms of +broken-hearted misery in the great City than the statement that 18,000 +people are lost in it every year, of whom 9,000 are never heard of any +more, anyway in this world. What is true about London is, we suppose, +true in about the same proportion of the rest of the country. +Husbands, sons, daughters, and mothers are continually disappearing, +and leaving no trace behind. + +In such cases, where the relations are of some importance in the world, +they may interest the police authorities sufficiently to make some +enquiries in this country, which, however, are not often successful; +or where they can afford to spend large sums of money, they can fall +back upon the private detective, who will continue these enquiries, +not only at home but abroad. + +But where the relations of the missing individual are in humble +circumstances, they are absolutely powerless, in nine cases out of ten, +to effectually prosecute any search at all that is likely to be +successful. + +Take, for instance, a cottager in a village, whose daughter leaves for +service in a big town or city. Shortly afterwards a letter arrives +informing her parents of the satisfactory character of her place. +The mistress is kind, the work easy, and she likes her fellow servants. +She is going to chapel or church, and the family are pleased. Letters +continue to arrive of the same purport, but, at length, they suddenly +cease. Full of concern, the mother writes to know the reason, but no +answer comes back, and after a time the letters are returned with +"gone, no address," written on the envelope. The mother writes to the +mistress, or the father journeys to the city, but no further +information can be obtained beyond the fact that "the girl has +conducted herself somewhat mysteriously of late; had ceased to be as +careful at her work; had been noticed to be keeping company with some +young man; had given notice and disappeared altogether." + +Now, what can these poor people do? They apply to the police, but they +can do nothing. Perhaps they ask the clergyman of the parish, who is +equally helpless, and there is nothing for them but for the father to +hang his head and the mother to cry her self to sleep--to long, +and wait, and pray for information that perhaps never comes, and to +fear the worst. + +Now, our Enquiry Department supplies a remedy for this state of things. +In such a case application would simply have to be made to the nearest +Salvation Army Officer--probably in her own village, any way, in the +nearest town--who would instruct the parents to write to the Chief +Office in London, sending portraits and all particulars. Enquiries +would at once be set on foot, which would very possibly end in the +restoration of the girl. + +The achievements of this Department, which has only been in operation +for a short time, and that on a limited scale, as a branch of Rescue +Work, have been marvellous. No more romantic stories can be found in +the pages of our most imaginative writers than those it records. +We give three or four illustrative cases of recent date. + +A LOST HUSBAND. + +ENQUIRY. + +Mrs. S., of New Town, Leeds, wrote to say that ROBERT R. left England +in July 1889, for Canada to improve his position. He left a wife and +four little children behind, and on leaving said that if he were +successful out there he should send for them, but if not he should +return. + +As he was unsuccessful, he left Montreal in the Dominion Liner +"Oregon," on October 30th, but except receiving a card from him ere he +started, the wife and friends had heard no more of him from that day +till the date they wrote us. + +They had written to the "Dominion" Company, who replied that "he landed +at Liverpool all right," so, thinking he had disappeared upon his +arrival, they put the matter in the hands of the Liverpool Police, who, +after having the case in hand for several weeks made the usual report +--"Cannot be traced." + +RESULT. + +We at once commenced looking for some passenger who had come over by +the same steamer, and after the lapse of a little time we succeeded in +getting hold of one. + +In our first interview with him we learned that Robert R. did not land +at Liverpool, but when suffering from depression threw himself +overboard three days after leaving America, and was drowned. +We further elicited that upon his death the sailors rifled his clothes +and boxes, and partitioned them. + +We wrote the Company reporting this, and they promised to make +enquiries and amends, but as too often happens, upon making report of +the same to the family they took the matter into their own hands, +dealt with the Company direct, and in all probability thereby lost a +good sum in compensation which we should probably have obtained for +them. + + +A LOST WIFE. + +ENQUIRY. + +F. J. L. asked us to seek for his wife, who left him on November 4th, +1888. He feared she had gone to live an immoral life; gave us two +addresses at which she might possibly be heard of, and a description. +They had three children. + +RESULT. + +Enquiries at the addresses given elicited no information, but from +observation in the neighbourhood the woman's whereabouts was +discovered. + +After some difficulty our Officer obtained an interview with the woman, +who was greatly astonished at our having discovered her. She was dealt +with faithfully and firmly: the plain truth of God set before her, +and was covered with shame and remorse, and promised to return. + +We communicated with Mr. L. A few days after he wrote that he had +been telegraphed for, had forgiven his wife, and that they were +re-united. + +Soon afterwards she wrote expressing her deep gratitude to +Mrs. Bramwell Booth for the trouble taken in her case. + + +A LOST CHILD. + +ENQUIRY. + +ALICE P. was stolen away from home by Gypsies ten years ago, and now +longs to find her parents to be restored to them. She believes her +home to be in Yorkshire. The Police had this case in hand for some +time, but failed entirely. + +RESULT. + +With these particulars we advertised in the "War Cry." Captain Green, +seeing the advertisement, wrote, April 3rd, from 3, C. S., M. H., +that her Lieutenant knew a family of the name advertised for, living at +Gomersal, Leeds. + +We, on the 4th, wrote to this address for confirmation. + +April 6th, we heard from Mr. P---, that this lass is his child, and he +writes full of gratitude and joy, saying he will send money for her to +go home We, meanwhile, get from the Police, who had long sought this +girl, a full description and photo, which we sent to Captain Cutmore; +and on April 9th, she wrote us to the effect that the girl exactly +answered the description. We got from the parents 15/- for the fare, +and Alice was once more restored to her parents. Praise God. + + +A LOST DAUGHTER. + +ENQUIRY. + +E. W. Age 17. Application from this girl's mother and brother, who +had lost all trace of her since July, 1885, when she left for Canada. +Letters had been once or twice received, dated from Montreal, but they +stopped. A photo., full description, and handwriting were supplied. + +RESULT. + +We discovered that some kind Church people here had helped E. W. to +emigrate, but they had no information as to her movements after +landing. + +Full particulars, with photo., were sent to our Officers in Canada. +The girl was not found in Montreal. The information was then sent to +Officers in other towns in that part of the Colony. + +The enquiry was continued through some months; and, finally, through +our Major of Division, the girl was reported to us as having been +recognised in one of our Barracks and identified. When suddenly called +by her own name, she nearly fainted with agitation. + +She was in a condition of terrible poverty and shame, but at once +consented, on hearing of her mother's enquiries, to go into one of our +Canadian Rescue Homes. She is now doing well. Her mother's joy may be +imagined. + + +A LOST SERVANT. + +ENQUIRY. + +Mrs. M., Clevedon, one of Harriett P.'s old mistresses, wrote us, in +deep concern, about this girl. She said she was a good servant, but +was ruined by the young man who courted her, and had since had three +children. Occasionally, she would have a few bright and happy weeks, +but would again lapse into the "vile path." + +Mrs. M. tells us that Harriett had good parents, who are dead, but +she still has a respectable brother in Hampshire. The last she heard +of her was that some weeks ago she was staying at a Girl's Shelter at +Bristol, but had since left, and nothing more had been heard of her. + +The enquirer requested us to find her, and in much faith added, +"I believe you are the only people who, if successful in tracing her, +can rescue and do her a permanent good." + +RESULT. + +We at once set enquiries on foot, and in the space of a few days found +that she had started from Bristol on the road for Bath. Following her +up we found that at a little place called Bridlington, on the way to +Bath, she had met a man, of whom she enquired her way. He hearing a +bit of her story, after taking her to a public-house, prevailed upon +her to go home and live with him, as he had lost his wife. + +It was at this stage that we came upon the scene, and having dealt with +them both upon the matter, got her to consent to come away if the man +would not marry her, giving him two days to make up his mind. + +The two days' respite having expired and, he being unwilling to +undertake matrimony, we brought her away, and sent her to one of our +Homes, where she is enjoying peace and penitence. + +When we informed the mistress and brother of the success, they were +greatly rejoiced and overwhelmed us with thanks. + + +A LOST HUSBAND. + +In a seaside home last Christmas there was a sorrowing wife, who +mourned over the basest desertion of her husband. Wandering from place +to place drinking, he had left her to struggle alone with four little +ones dependent upon her exertions. + +Knowing her distress, the captain of the corps wrote begging us to +advertise for the man in the Cry. We did this, but for some time heard +nothing of the result. + +Several weeks later a Salvationist entered a beer-house, where a group +of men were drinking, and began to distribute War Crys amongst them, +speaking here and there upon the eternity which faced everyone. + +At the counter stood a man with a pint pot in hand, who took one of the +papers passed to him, and glancing carelessly down its columns caught +sight of his own name, and was so startled that the pot fell from his +grasp to the floor. "Come home," the paragraph ran, "and all will be +forgiven." + +His sin faced him; the thought of a broken-hearted wife and starving +children conquered him completely, and there and then he left the +public-house, and started to walk home--a distance of many mile-- +arriving there about midnight the same night, after an absence of +eleven months. + +The letter from his wife telling the good news of his return, spoke +also of his determination by God's help to be a different man, and they +are both attendants at the Salvation Army barracks. + + +A SEDUCER COMPELLED TO PAY. + +Amongst the letters that came to the Inquiry Office one morning was one +from a girl who asked us to help her to trace the father of her child +who had for some time ceased to pay anything towards its support. +The case had been brought into the Police Court, and judgment given in +her favour, but the guilty one had hidden, and his father refused to +reveal his whereabouts. + +We called upon the elder man and laid the matter before him, but failed +to prevail upon him either to pay his son's liabilities or to put us +into communication with him. The answers to an advertisement in the +War Cry, however, had brought the required in formation as to his son's +whereabouts, and the same morning that our Inquiry Officer communicated +with the police, and served a summons for the overdue money, the young +man had also received a letter from his father advising him to leave +the country at once. He had given notice to his employers; and the #16 +salary he received, with some help his father had sent him towards the +journey, he was compelled to hand over to the mother of his child. + + +FOUND IN THE BUSH. + +A year or two ago a respectable-looking Dutch girl might have been seem +making her way quickly and stealthily across a stretch of long rank +grass towards the shelter of some woods on the banks of a distant +river. Behind her lay the South African town from which she had come, +betrayed, disgraced, ejected from her home with words of bitter scorn, +having no longer a friend in the wide world who would hold out to her a +hand of help. What could there be better for her than to plunge into +that river yonder, and end this life--no matter what should come +after the plunge? But Greetah feared the "future," and turned aside to +spend the night in darkness, wretched and alone. + +Seven years had passed. An English traveller making his way through +Southern Africa halted for the Sabbath at a little village on his +route. A ramble through the woods brought him unexpectedly in front of +a kraal, at the door of which squatted all old Hottentot, with a fair +white-faced Child playing on the ground near by. Glad to accept the +proffered shelter of the hut from the burning sun, the traveller +entered, and was greatly astonished to find within a young white girl, +evidently the mother of the frolicsome child. Full of pity for the +strange pair, and especially for the girl, who wore an air of +refinement little to be expected in this out-of-the-world spot, he sat +down on the earthen floor, and told them of the wonderful Salvation of +God. This was Greetah, and the Englishman would have given a great +deal if he could have rescued her from this miserable lot. But this +was impossible, and with reluctance he bid her farewell. + +It was an English home. By a glowing fire one night a man sat alone, +and in his imaginings there came up the vision of the girl he had met +in the Hottentot's Kraal, and wondering whether any way of rescue was +possible. Then he remembered reading, since his return, the following +paragraph in the War Cry: -- + +"TO THE DISTRESSED. The Salvation Army invite parents, relations, +and friends in any part of the world interested in any woman or girl +who is known, or feared to be, living in immorality, or is in danger +of coming under the control of immoral persons, to write, stating full +particulars, with names, dates, and address of all concerned, and, +if possible, a photograph of the person in who the interest is taken. + +"All letters, whether from these persons or from such women or girls +themselves, will be regarded as strictly confidential. They maybe +written in any language, and should be addressed to Mrs. Bramwell +Booth, 101, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C." "It will do no harm to +try, anyhow," exclaimed he, "the thing haunts me as it is," and without +further delay he penned an account of his African adventure, as full as +possible. The next African mail carried instructions to the Officer in +Command of our South African work. + +Shortly after, one of our Salvation Riders was exploring the bush, and +after some difficulty the kraal was discovered the girl was rescued and +saved. The Hottentot was converted afterwards, and both are now +Salvation Soldiers. + +Apart from the independent agencies employed to prosecute this class of +enquiries, which it is proposed to very largely increase, the Army +possesses in itself peculiar advantages for this kind of investigation. +The mode of operation is as follows: -- + +There is a Head Centre under the direction of a capable Officer and +assistants, to which particulars of lost husbands, sons, daughters, +and wives, as the case may be, are forwarded. These are advertised, +except when deemed inadvisable, in the English "War Cry," with its +300,000 circulation, and from it copied into the twenty-three other +"War Crys" published in different parts of the world. Specially +prepared information in each case is sent to the local Officers of the +Army when that is thought wise, or Special Enquiry Officers trained to +their work are immediately set to work to follow up any clue which has +been given by enquiring relations or friends. + +Every one of its 10,000 Officers, nay, almost every soldier in its +ranks, scattered, as they are, through every quarter of the globe, may +be regarded as an Agent. A small charge for enquiries is made, and, +where persons are able, all the costs of the investigation will he +defrayed by them. + + +SECTION 8.--REFUGES FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE STREETS. + +For the waifs and strays of the streets of London much commiseration is +expressed, and far more pity is deserved than is bestowed. We have no +direct purpose of entering on a crusade on their behalf, apart from our +attempt at changing the hearts and lives and improving the +circumstances of their parents. + +Our main hope for these wild, youthful, outcasts lies in this +direction. If we can reach and benefit their guardians, morally and +materially, we shall take the most effectual road to benefit the +children themselves. + +Still, a number of them will unavoidably be forced upon us; and we +shall be quite prepared to accept the responsibility of dealing with +them, calculating that our organisation will enable us to do so, +not only with facility and efficiency, but with trifling cost to the +public + +To begin with, Children's Creches or Children's Day Homes would be +established in the centres of every poor population, where for a small +charge babies and young children can be taken care of in the day while +the mothers are at work, instead of being left to the dangers of the +thoroughfares or the almost greater peril of being burnt to death in +their own miserable homes. + +By this plan we shall not only be able to benefit the poor children, +if in no other direction than that of soap and water and a little +wholesome food, but exercise some humanising influence upon the mothers +themselves. + +On the Farm Colony, we should be able to deal with the infants from the +Unions and other quarters. Our Cottage mothers, with two or three +children of their own, would readily take in an extra one on the usual +terms of boarding out children, and nothing would be more simple or +easy for us than to set apart some trustworthy experienced dame to make +a constant inspection as to whether the children placed out were +enjoying the necessary conditions of health and general well-being. +Here would be a Baby Farm carried on with the most favourable +surroundings. + + +SECTION 9.--INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. + +I also propose, at the earliest opportunity, to give the subject of the +industrial training of boys a fair trial; and, if successful, follow it +on with a similar one for girls. I am nearly satisfied in my own mind +that the children of the streets taken, say at eight years of age, +and kept till, say twenty-one, would, by judicious management and the +utilisation of their strength and capacity, amply supply all their own +wants, and would, I think, be likely to turn out thoroughly good and +capable members of the community. + +Apart from the mere benevolent aspect of the question, the present +system of teaching is, to my mind, unnatural, and shamefully wasteful +of the energies of the children. Fully one-half the time that boys and +girls are compelled to sit in school is spent to little or no purpose +--nay, it is worse than wasted. The minds of the children are only +capable of useful application for so many consecutive minutes, +and hence the rational method must be to apportion the time of the +children; say, half the morning's work to be given to their books, +and the other half to some industrial employment; the garden would be +most natural and healthy in fair weather, while the workshop should be +fallen back upon when unfavourable. + +By this method health would be promoted, school would be loved, +the cost of education would be cheapened, and the natural bent of the +child's capacities would be discovered and could be cultivated. +Instead of coming out of school, or going away from apprenticeship, +with the most precious part of life for ever gone so far as learning +is concerned, chained to some pursuit for which there is no +predilection, and which promises nothing higher than mediocrity if not +failure--the work for which the mind was peculiarly adapted and for +which, therefore, it would have a natural capacity, would not only have +been discovered, but the bent of the inclination cultivated, and the +life's work chosen accordingly. + + +It is not for me to attempt any reform of our School system on this +model. But I do think that I may be allowed to test the theory by its +practical working in an Industrial School in connection with the Farm +Colony. I should begin probably with children selected for their +goodness and capacity, with a view to imparting a superior education, +thus fitting them for the position of Officers in all parts of the +world, with the special object of raising up a body of men thoroughly +trained and educated, among other things, to carry out all the branches +of the Social work that are set forth in this book, and it may be to +instruct other nations in the same. + + +SECTION 10.--ASYLUMS FOR MORAL LUNATICS. + +There will remain, after all has been said and done, one problem that +has yet to be faced. You may minimise the difficulty every way, +and it is your duty to do so, but no amount of hopefulness can make us +blink the fact that when all has been done and every chance has been +offered, when you have forgiven your brother not only seven times but +seventy times seven, when you have fished him up from the mire and put +him on firm ground only to see him relapse and again relapse until you +have no strength left to pull him out once more, there will still +remain a residuum of men and women who have, whether from heredity or +custom, or hopeless demoralisation, become reprobates. After a certain +time, some men of science hold that persistence in habits tends to +convert a man from a being with freedom of action and will into a mere +automaton. There are some cases within our knowledge which seem to +confirm the somewhat dreadful verdict by which a man appears to be a +lost soul on this side of the grave. + +There are men so incorrigibly lazy that no inducement that you can +offer will tempt them to work; so eaten up by vice that virtue is +abhorrent to them, and so inveterately dishonest that theft is to them +a master passion. When a human being has reached that stage, there is +only one course that can be rationally pursued. Sorrowfully, but +remorselessly, it must be recognised that he has become lunatic, +morally demented, incapable of self-government, and that upon him, +therefore, must be passed the sentence of permanent seclusion from a +world in which he is not fit to be at large. The ultimate destiny of +these poor wretches should be a penal settlement where they could be +confined during Her Majesty's pleasure as are the criminal lunatics at +Broadmoor. It is a crime against the race to allow those who are so +inveterately depraved the freedom to wander abroad, infect their +fellows, prey upon Society, and to multiply their kind. Whatever else +Society may do, and suffer to be done, this thing it ought not to +allow, any more than it should allow the free perambulation of a mad +dog. But before we come to this I would have every possible means +tried to effect their reclamation. Let Justice punish them, and Mercy +put her arms around them; let them be appealed to by penalty and by +reason, and by every influence, human and Divine, that can possibly be +brought to bear upon them. Then, if all alike failed, their ability to +further curse their fellows and themselves should be stayed. + +They will still remain objects worthy of infinite compassion. +They should lead as human a life as is possible to those who have +fallen under so terrible a judgment. They should have their own little +cottages in their own little gardens, under the blue sky, and, if +possible, amid the green fields. I would deny them none of the +advantages, moral, mental, and religious which might minister to their +diseased minds, and tend to restore them to a better state. Not until +the breath leaves their bodies should we cease to labour and wrestle +for their salvation. But when they have reached a certain point access +to their fellow men should be forbidden. Between them and the wide +world there should be reared an impassable barrier, which once passed +should be recrossed no more for ever. Such a course must be wiser than +allowing them to go in and out among their fellows, carrying with them +the contagion of moral leprosy, and multiplying a progeny doomed before +its birth to inherit the vices and diseased cravings of their unhappy +parents. To these proposals three leading objections will probably be +raised + +1. It may be said that to shut out men and women from that liberty + which is their universal birthright would be cruel. + +To this it might be sufficient to reply that this is already done; +twenty years' immurement is a very common sentence passed upon +wrong-doers, and in some cases the law goes as far as to inflict penal +servitude for life. But we say further that it would be far more +merciful treatment than that which is dealt out to them at present, +and it would be far more likely to secure a pleasant existence. +Knowing their fate they would soon become resigned to it. +Habits of industry, sobriety, and kindness with them would create a +restfulness of spirit which goes far on in the direction of happiness, +and if religion were added it would make that happiness complete. +There might be set continually before them a large measure of freedom +and more frequent intercourse with the world in the shape of +correspondence, newspapers, and even occasional interviews with +relatives, as rewards for well-doing. And in sickness and old age +their latter days might be closed in comfort. In fact, so far as this +class of people were concerned, we can see that they would be far +better circumstanced for happiness in this life and in the life to come +than in their present liberty--if a life spent alternatively in +drunkenness, debauchery, and crime, on the one hand, or the prison on +the other, can be called liberty. + +2. It may be said that the carrying out of such a suggestion would be + too expensive. + +To this we reply that it would have to be very costly to exceed the +expense in which all such characters involve the nation under the +present regulations of vice and crime. But there is no need for any +great expense, seeing that after the first outlay the inmates of such +an institution, if it were fixed upon the land, would readily earn all +that would be required for their support. + +3. But it may be said that this is impossible. + +It would certainly be impossible other than as a State regulation. +But it would surely be a very simple matter to enact a law which should +decree that after an individual had suffered a certain number of +convictions for crime, drunkenness, or vagrancy, he should forfeit his +freedom to roam abroad and curse his fellows. When I include vagrancy +in this list, I do it on the supposition that the opportunity and +ability for work are present. Otherwise it seems to me most heartless +to punish a hungry man who begs for food because he can in no other way +obtain it. But with the opportunity and ability for work I would count +the solicitation of charity a crime, and punish it as such. Anyway, if +a man would not work of his own free will I would compel him. + + +CHAPTER 6. ASSISTANCE IN GENERAL. + +There are many who are not lost, who need help. A little assistance +given to-day will perhaps prevent the need of having to save them +to-morrow. There are some, who, after they have been rescued, +will still need a friendly hand. The very service which we have +rendered them at starting makes it obligatory upon us to finish the +good work. Hitherto it may be objected that the Scheme has dealt +almost exclusively with those who are more or less disreputable and +desperate. This was inevitable. We obey our Divine Master and seek to +save those who are lost. But because, as I said at the beginning, +urgency is claimed rightly for those who have no helper, we do not, +therefore, forget the needs and the aspirations of the decent working +people who are poor indeed, but who keep their feet, who have not +fallen, and who help themselves and help each other. They constitute +the bulk of the nation. There is an uppercrust and a submerged tenth. +But the hardworking poor people, who earn a pound a week or less, +constitute in every land the majority of the population. We cannot +forget them, for we are at home with them. We belong to them and many +thousands of them belong to us. We are always studying how to help +them, and we think this can be done in many ways, some of which I +proceed to describe. + + +SECTION 1.--IMPROVED LODGINGS. + +The necessity for a superior class of lodgings for the poor men rescued +at our Shelters has been forcing itself already upon our notice, +and demanding attention. One of the first things that happens when a +man, lifted out of the gutter, has obtained a situation, and is earning +a decent livelihood, is for him to want some better accommodation than +that afforded at the Shelters. We have some hundreds on our hands now +who can afford to pay for greater comfort and seclusion. +These are continually saying to us something like the following: -- + +The Shelters are all very well when a man is down in his luck. +They have been a good thing for us; in fact, had it not been for them, +we would still have been without a friend, sleeping on the Embankment, +getting our living dishonestly, or not getting a living at all. +We have now got work, and want a bed to sleep on, and a room to +ourselves, and a box, or something where we can stow away our bits of +things. Cannot you do something for us?" We have replied that there +were Lodging-houses elsewhere, which, now that they were in work, +they could afford to pay for, where they would obtain the comfort they +desired. To this they answer, "That is all very well. We know there +are these places, and that we could go to them. But then," they said, +"you see, here in the Shelters are our mates, who think as we do. +And there is the prayer, and the meeting, and kind influence every +night, that helps to keep us straight. We would like a better place, +but if you cannot find us one we would rather stop in the Shelter and +sleep on the floor, as we have been doing, than go to something more +complete, get into bad company, and so fall back again to where we were +before." + +But this, although natural, is not desirable; for, if the process went +on, in course of time the whole of the Shelter Depots would be taken up +by persons who had risen above the class for whom they were originally +destined. I propose, therefore, to draft those who get on, but wish to +continue in connection with the Army, into a superior lodging-house, a +sort of POOR MAN'S METROPOLE, managed on the same principles, but with +better accommodation in every way, which, I anticipate, would be +self-supporting from the first. In these homes there would be separate +dormitories, good sitting-rooms, cooking conveniences, baths, a hall +for meetings, and many other comforts, of which all would have the +benefit at as low a figure above cost price as will not only pay +interest on the original outlay, but secure us against any shrinkage of +capital. + +Something superior in this direction will also be required for the +women. Having begun, we must go on. Hitherto I have proposed to deal +only with single men and single women, but one of the consequences of +getting hold of these men very soon makes itself felt. Your ragged, +hungry, destitute Out-of-Work in almost every case is married. +When he comes to us he comes as single and is dealt with as such, +but after you rouse in him aspirations for better things he remembers +the wife whom he has probably enough deserted, or left from sheer +inability to provide her anything to eat. As soon as such a man finds +himself under good influence and fairly employed his first thought is +to go and look after the "Missis." There is very little reality about +any change of heart in a married man who does not thus turn in sympathy +and longing towards his wife, and the more successful we are in dealing +with these people the more inevitable it is that we shall be confronted +with married couple's who in turn demand that we should provide for +them lodgings. This we propose to do also on a commercial footing. +I see greater developments in this direction, one of which will be +described in the chapter relating to Suburban Cottages. +The Model-lodging House for Married People is, however, one of +those things that must be provided as an adjunct of the Food and +Shelter Depots. + + +SECTION 2.--MODEL SUBURBAN VILLAGES. + +As I have repeatedly stated already, but will state once more, for it +is important enough to bear endless repetition, one of the first steps +which must inevitably be taken in the reformation of this class, is to +make for them decent, healthy, pleasant homes, or help them to make +them for themselves, which, if possible, is far better. I do not regard +the institution of any first, second, or third-class lodging-houses as +affording anything but palliatives of the existing distress. +To substitute life in a boarding-house for life in the streets is, +no doubt, an immense advance, but it is by no means the ultimatum. +Life in a boarding-house is better than the worst, but it is far from +being the best form of human existence. Hence, the object I constantly +keep in view is how to pilot those persons who have been set on their +feet again by means of the Food and Shelter Depots, and who have +obtained employment in the City, into the possession of homes of their +own. + +Neither can I regard the one, or at most two, rooms in which the large +majority of the inhabitants of our great cities are compelled to spend +their days, as a solution of the question. The overcrowding which fills +every separate room of a tenement with a human litter, and compels +family life from the cradle to the grave to be lived within the four +walls of a single apartment, must go on reproducing in endless +succession all the terrible evils which such a state of things must +inevitably create. + +Neither can I be satisfied with the vast, unsightly piles of +barrack-like buildings, which are only a slight advance upon the +Union Bastille--dubbed Model Industrial Dwellings--so much in +fashion at present, as being a satisfactory settlement of the burning +question of the housing of the poor. As a contribution to this +question, I propose the establishment of a series of Industrial +Settlements or Suburban Villages, lying out in the country, within a +reasonable distance of all our great cities, composed of cottages of +suitable size and construction, and with all needful comfort and +accommodation for the families of working-men, the rent of which, +together with the railway fare, and other economic conveniences, +should be within the reach of a family of moderate income. + +This proposal lies slightly apart from the scope of this book, +otherwise I should be disposed to elaborate the project at greater +length. I may say, however, that what I here propose has been carefully +thought out, and is of a perfectly practical character. +In the planning of it I have received some valuable assistance from a +friend who has had considerable experience in the building trade, +and he stakes his professional reputation on its feasibility. +The following, however, may be taken as a rough outline: -- + +The Village should not be more than twelve miles from town; should be +in a dry and healthy situation, and on a line of railway. It is not +absolutely necessary that it should be near a station, seeing that the +company would, for their own interests, immediately erect one. + +The Cottages should be built of the best material and workmanship. +This would be effected most satisfactorily by securing a contract for +the labour only, the projectors of the Scheme purchasing the materials +and supplying them direct from the manufacturers to the builders. +The cottages would consist of three or four rooms, with a scullery, +and out-building in the garden. The cottages should be built in +terraces, each having a good garden attached. Arrangements should be +made for the erection of from one thousand to two thousand houses at +the onset. In the Village a Co-operative Goods Store should be +established, supplying everything that was really necessary for the +villagers at the most economic prices. The sale of intoxicating drink +should be strictly forbidden on the Estate, and, if possible, +the landowner from whom the land is obtained should be tied off from +allowing any licences to be held on any other portion of the adjoining +land. It is thought that the Railway Company, in consideration of the +inconvenience and suffering they have inflicted on the poor, +and in their own interests, might be induced to make the following +advantageous arrangements: -- + +(1) The conveyance of each member actually living in the village to and + from London at the rate of sixpence per week. Each pass should + have on it the portrait of the owner, and be fastened to some + article of the dress, and be available only by Workmen's Trains + running early and late and during certain hours of the day, when + the trains are almost empty. + +(2) The conveyance of goods and parcels should be at half the ordinary + rates. It is reasonable to suppose that large landowners would + gladly give one hundred acres of land in view of the immensely + advanced values of the surrounding property which would immediately + follow, seeing that the erection of one thousand or two thousand + cottages would constitute the nucleus of a much larger Settlement. + +Lastly, the rent of a four-roomed cottage must not exceed 3s. per week. +Add to this the sixpenny ticket to and from London, and you have 3s. 6d. +and if the company should insist on 1s., it will make 4s., for which +there would be all the advantages of a comfortable cottage--of which +it would be possible for the tenant to become the owner--a good garden, +pleasant surroundings, and other influences promotive of the health +and happiness of the family. It is hardly necessary to remark that +in connection with this Village there will be perfect freedom of +opinion on all matters. A glance at the ordinary homes of the poor +people of this great City will at once assure us that such a village +would be a veritable Paradise to them, and that were four, five, +or six settlements provided at once they would not contain a tithe of +the people who would throng to occupy them. + + +SECTION 3.--THE POOR MAN'S BANK. + +If the love of money is the root of all evil, the want of money is the +cause of an immensity of evil and trouble. The moment you begin +practically to alleviate the miseries of the people, you discover that +the eternal want of pence is one of their greatest difficulties. +In my most sanguine moments I have never dreamed of smoothing this +difficulty out of the lot of man, but it is surely no unattainable +ideal to establish a Poor Man's Bank, which will extend to the lower +middle class and the working population the advantages of the credit +system, which is the very foundation of our boasted commerce. + +It might be better that there should be no such thing as credit, +that no one should lend money, and that everyone should be compelled to +rely solely upon whatever ready money he may possess from day to day. +But if so, let us apply the principle all round; do not let us glory in +our world-wide commerce and boast ourselves in our riches, obtained, +in so many cases, by the ignoring of this principle. If it is right +for a great merchant to have dealings with his banker, if it is +indispensable for the due carrying on of the business of the rich men +that they should have at their elbow a credit system which will from +time to time accommodate them with needful advances and enable them to +stand up against the pressure of sudden demands, which otherwise would +wreck them, then surely the case is still stronger for providing a +similar resource for the smaller men, the weaker men. At present +Society is organised far too much on the principle of giving to him who +hath so that he shall have more abundantly, and taking away from him +who hath not even that which he hath. + +If we are to really benefit the poor, we can only do so by practical +measures. We have merely to look round and see the kind of advantages +which wealthy men find indispensable for the due management of their +business, and ask ourselves whether poor men cannot be supplied with +the same opportunities. The reason why they are not is obvious. +To supply the needs of the rich is a means of making yourself rich; +to supply the needs of the poor will involve you in trouble so out of +proportion to the profit that the game may not be worth the candle. +Men go into banking and other businesses for the sake of obtaining what +the American humourist said was the chief end of man in these modern +times, namely, "ten per cent." To obtain a ten per cent. what will not +men do? They will penetrate the bowels of the earth, explore the depths +of the sea, ascend the snow-capped mountain's highest peak, or navigate +the air, if they can be guaranteed a ten per cent. I do not venture to +suggest that the business of a Poor Man's Bank would yield ten per cent., +or even five, but I think it might be made to pay its expenses, +and the resulting gain to the community would be enormous. + +Ask any merchant in your acquaintance where his business would be if +he had no banker, and then, when you have his answer, ask yourself +whether it would not be an object worth taking some trouble to secure, +to furnish the great mass of our fellow countrymen, on sound business +principles with the advantages of the credit system, which is found to +work so beneficially for the "well-to-do" few. + +Some day I hope the State may be sufficiently enlightened to take up +this business itself; at present it is left in the hands of the +pawnbroker and the loan agency, and a set of sharks, who cruelly prey +upon the interests of the poor. The establishment of land banks, +where the poor man is almost always a peasant, has been one of the +features of modern legislation in Russia, Germany, and elsewhere. +The institution of a Poor Man's Bank will be, I hope, before long, +one of the recognised objects of our own government. + +Pending that I venture to throw out a suggestion, without in any way +pledging myself to add this branch of activity to the already gigantic +range of operations foreshadowed in this book--Would it not be +possible for some philanthropists with capital to establish on clearly +defined principles a Poor Man's Bank for the making of small loans on +good security, or making advances to those who are in danger of being +overwhelmed by sudden financial pressure--in fact, for doing for the +"little man" what all the banks do for the "big man"? Meanwhile, +should it enter into the heart of some benevolently disposed possessor +of wealth to give the price of a racehorse, or of an "old master," +to form the nucleus of the necessary capital, I will certainly +experiment in this direction. + +I can anticipate the sneer of the cynic who scoffs at what he calls my +glorified pawnshop. I am indifferent to his sneers. A Mont de Piete-- +the very name (Mount of Piety) shows that the Poor Man's Bank is +regarded as anything but an objectionable institution across the +Channel--might be an excellent institution in England. Owing, +however, to the vested interests of the existing traders it might be +impossible for the State to establish it, excepting at a ruinous +expense. There would be no difficulty, however, of instituting a +private Mont de Piete, which would confer an incalculable boon upon the +struggling poor. + +Further, I am by no means indisposed to recognise the necessity of +dealing with this subject in connection with the Labour Bureau, +provided that one clearly recognised principle can be acted upon. +That principle is that a man shall be free to bind himself as security +for the repayment of a loan, that is to pledge himself to work for his +rations until such time as he has repaid capital and interest. +An illustration or two will explain what I mean. Here is a carpenter +who comes to our Labour shed; he is an honest, decent man, who has by +sickness or some other calamity been reduced to destitution. He has by +degrees pawned one article after another to keep body and soul +together, until at last he has been compelled to pawn his tools. +We register him, and an employer comes along who wants a carpenter whom +we can recommend. We at once suggest this man, but then arises this +difficulty. He has no tools; what are we to do? As things are at +present, the man loses the job and continues on our hands. Obviously +it is most desirable in the interest of the community that the man +should get his tools out of pawn; but who is to take the responsibility +of advancing the money to redeem them? This difficulty might be met, +I think, by the man entering into a legal undertaking to make over his +wages to us, or such proportion of them as would be convenient to his +circumstances, we in return undertaking to find him in food and shelter +until such time as he has repaid the advance made. That obligation it +would be the truest kindness to enforce with Rhadamantine severity. +Until the man is out of debt he is not his own master. All that he can +make over his actual rations and Shelter money should belong to his +creditor. Of course such an arrangement might be varied indefinitely +by private agreement; the repayment of instalments could be spread ever +a longer or shorter time, but the mainstay of the whole principle would +be the execution of a legal agreement by which the man makes over the +whole product of his labour to the Bank until he has repaid, his debt. + +Take another instance. A clerk who has been many years in a situation +and has a large family, which he has brought up respectably and +educated. He has every prospect of retiring in a few years upon a +superannuating allowance, but is suddenly confronted by a claim often +through no fault of his own, of a sum of fifty or a hundred pounds, +which is quite beyond his means. He has been a careful saving man, +who has never borrowed a penny in his life, and does not know where to +turn in his emergency. If he can not raise this money he will be sold +up, his family will be scattered, his situation and his prospective +pension will be lost, and blank ruin will stare him in the face. +Now, were he in receipt of an income of ten times the amount, he would +probably have a banking account, and, in consequence, be able to secure +an advance of all he needed from his banker. Why should he not be able +to pledge his salary, or a portion of it, to an Institution which would +enable him to pay off his debt, on terms that, while sufficiently +remunerative to the bank, would not unduly embarrass him? + +At present what does the poor wretch do? He consults his friends, who, +it is quite possible, are as hard up as himself, or he applies to some +loan agency, and as likely as not falls into the hands of sharpers, +who indeed, let him have the money, but at interest altogether out of +proportion to the risk which they run, and use the advantage which +their position gives them to extort every penny he has. A great black +book written within and without in letters of lamentation, mourning, +and woe might be written on the dealings of these usurers with their +victims in every land. + +It is of little service denouncing these extortioners. They have always +existed, and probably always will; but what we can do is to +circumscribe the range of their operations and the number of their +victims. This can only be done by a legitimate and merciful provision +for these poor creatures in their hours of desperate need, so as to +prevent their falling into the hands of these remorseless wretches, +who have wrecked the fortunes of thousands, and driven many a decent +man to suicide or a premature grave. + +There are endless ramifications of this principle, which do not need to +be described here, but before leaving the subject I may allude to an +evil which is a cruel reality, alas! to a multitude of unfortunate men +and women. I refer to the working of the Hire System. The decent poor +man or woman who is anxious to earn an honest penny by the use of, +it may be a mangle, or a sewing-machine, a lathe, or some other +indispensable instrument, and is without the few pounds necessary to +buy it, must take it on the Hire System--that is to say, for the +accommodation of being allowed to pay for the machine by instalments-- +he is charged, in addition to the full market value of his purchase, +ten or twenty times the amount of what would be a fair rate of +interest, and more than this if he should at any time, through +misfortune, fail in his payment, the total amount already paid will be +confiscated, the machine seized, and the money lost. + +Here again we fall back on our analogy of what goes on in a small +community where neighbours know each other. Take, for instance, when a +lad who is recognised as bright, promising, honest, and industrious, +who wants to make a start in life which requires some little outlay, +his better-to-do neighbour will often assist him by providing the +capital necessary to enable him to make a way for himself in the world. +The neighbour does this because he knows the lad, because the family is +at least related by ties of neighbourhood, and the honour of the lad's +family is a security upon which a man may safely advance a small sum. +All this would equally apply to a destitute widow, an artizan suddenly +thrown out of work, an orphan family, or the like. In the large City +all this kindly helpfulness disappears, and with it go all those small +acts of service which are, as it were, the buffers which save men from +being crushed to death against the iron walls of circumstances. We must +try to replace them in some way or other if we are to get back, not to +the Garden of Eden, but to the ordinary conditions of life, as they +exist in a healthy, small community. No institution, it is true, +can ever replace the magic bond of personal friendship, but if we have +the whole mass of Society permeated in every direction by brotherly +associations established for the purpose of mutual help and +sympathising counsel, it is not an impossible thing to believe that we +shall be able to do something to restore the missing element in modern +civilisation. + + +SECTION 4.--THE POOR MAN'S LAWYER. + +The moment you set about dealing with the wants of the people, +you discover that many of their difficulties are not material, +but moral. There never was a greater mistake than to imagine that you +have only to fill a man's stomach, and clothe his back in order to +secure his happiness. Man is, much more than a digestive apparatus, +liable to get out of order. Hence, while it is important to remember +that man has a stomach, it is also necessary to bear in mind that he +has a heart, and a mind that is frequently sorely troubled by +difficulties which, if he lived in a friendly world, would often +disappear. A man, and still more a woman, stands often quite as much +in need of a trusted adviser as he or she does of a dinner or a dress. +Many a poor soul is miserable all the day long, and gets dragged down +deeper and deeper into the depths of sin and sorrow and despair for +want of a sympathising friend, who can give her advice, and make her +feel that somebody in the world cares for her, and will help her if +they can. + +If we are to bring back the sense of brotherhood to the world, +we must confront this difficulty. God, it was said in old time, +setteth the desolate in families; but somehow, in our time, +the desolate wander alone in the midst of a careless and unsympathising +world. "There is no-one who cares for my soul. There is no creature +loves me, and if I die no one will pity me," is surely one of the +bitterest cries that can burst from a breaking heart. One of the +secrets of the success of the Salvation Army is, that the friendless of +the world find friends in it. There is not one sinner in the world-- +no matter how degraded and dirty he may be--whom my people will not +rejoice to take by the hand and pray with, and labour for, if thereby +they can but snatch him as a brand from the burning. Now, we want to +make more use of this, to make the Salvation Army the nucleus of a +great agency for bringing comfort and counsel to those who are at their +wits' end, feeling as if in the whole world there was no one to whom +they could go. + +What we want to do is to exemplify to the world the family idea. +"Our Father" is the keynote. One is Our Father, then all we are +brethren. But in a family, if anyone is troubled in mind or +conscience, there is no difficulty. The daughter goes to her father, +or the son to his mother, and pour out their soul's troubles, and are +relieved. If there is any serious difficulty a family council is held, +and all unite their will and their resources to get matters put +straight. This is what we mean to try to get done in the New +Organisation of Society for which we are labouring. We cannot know +better than God Almighty what will do good to man. We are content to +follow on His lines, and to mend the world we shall seek to restore +something of the family idea to the many hundreds of thousands--ay, +millions--who have no one wiser or more experienced than themselves, +to whom they can take their sorrows, or consult in their difficulties. + +Of course we can do this but imperfectly. Only God can create a mother. +But Society needs a great deal of mothering, much more than it gets. +And as a child needs a mother to run to in its difficulties and troubles, +to whom it can let out its little heart in confidence, so men and +women, weary and worn in the battles of life, need someone to whom they +can go when pressed down with a sense of wrongs suffered or done, +knowing that their confidence will be preserved inviolate, and that +their statements will be received with sympathy. I propose to attempt +to meet this want. I shall establish a department, over which I shall +place the wisest, the pitifullest, and the most sagacious men and women +whom I can find on my staff, to whom all those in trouble and +perplexity shall be invited to address themselves. It is no use saying +that we love our fellow men unless we try to help them, and it is no +use pretending to sympathise with the heavy burdens which darken their +lives unless we try to ease them and to lighten their existence. + +Insomuch as we have more practical experience of life than other men, +by so much are we bound to help their inexperience, and share our +talents with them. But if we believe they are our brothers, and that +One is our Father, even the God who will come to judge us hereafter for +all the deeds that we have done in the body, then must we constitute, +in some such imperfect way as is open to us, the parental office. +We must be willing to receive the outpourings of our struggling fellow +men, to listen to the long-buried secret that has troubled the human +heart, and to welcome instead of repelling those who would obey the +Apostolic precept: "To confess their sins one to another." Let not +that word confession scandalise any. Confession of the most open sort; +confession on the public platform before the presence of all the man's +former associates in sin has long been one of the most potent weapons +by which the Salvation Army has won its victories. That confession we +have long imposed on all our converts, and it is the only confession +which seems to us to be a condition of Salvation. But this suggestion +is of a different kind. It is not imposed as a means of grace. +It is not put forward as a preliminary to the absolution which no one +can pronounce but our Lord Himself. It is merely a response on our +part to one of the deepest needs and secret longings of the actual men +and women who are meeting us daily in our work. Why should they be +left to brood in misery over their secret sin, when a plain +straightforward talk with a man or woman selected for his or her +sympathetic common-sense and spiritual experience might take the weight +off their shoulders which is crushing them into dull despair? + +Not for absolution, but for sympathy and direction, do I propose to +establish my Advice Bureau in definite form, for in practice it has +been in existence for some time, and wonderful things have been done +in the direction on which I contemplate it working. I have no pleasure +in inventing these departments. They all entail hard work and no end +of anxiety. But if we are to represent the love of God to men, we must +minister to all the wants and needs of the human heart. Nor is it only +in affairs of the heart that this Advice Bureau will be of service. It +will be quite as useful in affairs of the head. As I conceive it, the +Advice Bureau will be THE POOR MANS LAWYER AND THE POOR MANS TRIBUNE. + +There are no means in London, so far as my knowledge goes, by which the +poor and needy can obtain any legal assistance in the varied +oppressions and difficulties from which they must, in consequence of +their poverty and associations, be continually suffering. + +While the "well-to-do" classes can fall back upon skilful friends for +direction, or avail themselves of the learning and experience of the +legal profession, the poor man has literally no one qualified to +counsel him on such matters. In cases of sickness he can apply to the +parish doctor or the great hospital, and receive an odd word or two of +advice, with a bottle of physic which may or may not be of service. +But if his circumstances are sick, out of order, in danger of carrying +him to utter destitution, or to prison, or to the Union, he has no one +to appeal to who has the willingness or the ability to help him. + +Now, we want to create a Court of Counsel or Appeal, to which anyone +suffering from imposition having to do with person, liberty, or +property, or anything else of sufficient importance, can apply, +and obtain not only advice, but practical assistance. + +Among others for whom this Court would be devised is the +shamefully-neglected class of Widows, of whom in the East of London +there are 6,000, mostly in very destitute circumstances. In the whole +of London there cannot be less than 20,000, and in England and Wales it +is estimated there are 100,000, fifty thousand of whom are probably +poor and friendless. + +The treatment these poor people by the nation is a crying scandal. +Take the case of the average widow, even when left in comfortable +circumstances. She will often be launched into a sea of perplexity, +although able to avail herself of the best advice. But think of the +multitudes of poor women, who, when they close their husbands' eyes, +lose the only friend who knows anything; about their circumstances. +There may be a trifle of money or a struggling business or a little +income connected with property or some other possession, all needing +immediate attention, and that of a skilful sort, in order to enable the +poor creature to weather the storm and avoid the vortex of utter +destitution. + +All we have said applies equally to orphans and friendless people +generally. Nothing, however, short of a national institution could +meet the necessities of all such cases. But we can do something, and +in matters already referred to, such as involve loss of property, +malicious prosecution, criminal and otherwise, we can render +substantial assistance. + +In carrying out this purpose it will be no part of our plan to +encourage legal proceedings in others, or to have recourse to them +ourselves. All resort to law would be avoided either in counsel or +practice, unless absolutely necessary. But where manifest injustice +and wrong are perpetrated, and every other method of obtaining +reparation fails, we shall avail ourselves of the assistance the Law +affords. + +Our great hope of usefulness, however, in this Department lies in +prevention, The knowledge that the oppressed poor have in us a friend +able to speak for them will often prevent the injustice which cowardly +and avaricious persons might otherwise inflict, and the same +considerations may induce them to accord without compulsion the right +of the weak and friendless. + +I also calculate upon a wide sphere of usefulness in the direction of +friendly arbitration and intervention. There will be at least one +disinterested tribunal, however humble, to which business, domestic, +or any other questions of a contentious and litigious nature can be +referred without involving any serious costs. + +The following incidents have been gathered from operations already +undertaken in this direction, and will explain and illustrate the kind +of work we contemplate, and some of the benefits that may be expected +to follow from it. + +About four years ago a young and delicate girl, the daughter of a +pilot, came to us in great distress. Her story was that of thousands +of others. She had been betrayed by a man in a good position in the +West End, and was now the mother of an infant child. + +Just before her confinement her seducer had taken her to his solicitors +and made her sign and swear an affidavit to the effect that he was not +the father of the then expected child. Upon this he gave her a few +pounds in settlement of all claims upon him. The poor thing was in +great poverty and distress. Through our solicitors, we immediately +opened communications with the man, and after negotiations, he, to +avoid further proceedings, was compelled to secure by a deed a proper +allowance to his unfortunate victim for the maintenance of her child. + +SHADOWED AND CAUGHT. + +A-- was induced to leave a comfortable home to become the governess of +the motherless children of Mr. G--, whom she found to be a kind and +considerate employer. After she had been in his service some little +time he proposed that she should take a trip to London. To this she +very gladly consented, all the more so when he offered to take her +himself to a good appointment he had secured for her. In London he +seduced her, and kept her as his mistress until, tired of her, +he told her to go and do as "other women did." + +Instead of descending to this infamy, she procured work, and so +supported herself and child in some degree of comfort, when he sought +her out and again dragged her down. Another child was born, and a +second time he threw her up and left her to starve. It was then she +applied to our people. We hunted up the man, followed him to the +country, threatened him with public exposure, and forced from him the +payment to his victim of #60 down, an allowance of #1 a week, and an +Insurance Policy on his life for #450 in her favour. + +#60 FROM ITALY. + +C. was seduced by a young Italian of good position in society, +who promised to marry her, but a short time before the day fixed for +the ceremony he told her urgent business called him abroad. He assured +her he would return in two years and make her his wife. He wrote +occasionally, and at last broke her heart by sending the news of his +marriage to another, adding insult to injury by suggesting that she +should come and live with his wife as her maid, offering at the same +time to pay for the maintenance of the child till it was old enough to +be placed in charge of the captain of one of the vessels belonging to +his firm. + +None of these promises were fulfilled, and C., with her mother's +assistance, for a time managed to support herself and child; but the +mother, worn out by age and trouble, could help her no longer, +and the poor girl was driven to despair. Her case was brought before +us, and we at once set to work to assist her. The Consul of the town +where the seducer lived in style was communicated with. Approaches +were made to the young man's father, who, to save the dishonour that +would follow exposure, paid over #60. This helps to maintain the +child; and the girl is in domestic service and doing well. + +THE HIRE SYSTEM. + +The most cruel wrongs are frequently inflicted on the very poorest +persons, in connection with this method of obtaining Furniture, Sewing +Machines, Mangles, or other articles. Caught by the lure of misleading +advertisements, the poor are induced to purchase articles to be paid +for by weekly or monthly instalments. They struggle through half the +amount perhaps, at all manner of sacrifice, when some delay in the +payment is made the occasion not only for seizing the goods, which they +have come to regard as their own, and on which their very existence +depends, but by availing themselves of some technical clause in the +agreement, for robbing them in addition. In such circumstances the +poor things, being utterly friendless, have to submit to these infamous +extortions without remedy. Our Bureau will be open to all such. + +TALLYMEN, MONEY LENDERS, AND BILLS-OF-SALEMONGERS. + +Here again we have a class who prey upon the poverty of the people, +inducing them to purchase things for which they have often no immediate +use--anyway for which there is no real necessity--by all manner of +specious promises as to easy terms of repayment. And once having got +their dupes into their power they drag them down to misery, and very +often utter temporal ruin; once in their net escape is exceedingly +difficult, if not impossible. We propose to help the poor victims by +this Scheme, as far as possible. + +Our Bureau, we expect will be of immense service to Clergymen Ministers +of all denominations, District Visitors, Missionaries, and others who +freely mix among the poor, seeing that they must be frequently appealed +to for legal advice, which they are quite unable to give, and equally +at a loss to obtain. We shall always be very glad to assist such. + +THE DEFENCE OF UNDEFENDED PERSONS. + +The conviction is gradually fixing itself upon the public mind that a +not inconsiderable number of innocent persons are from time to time +convicted of crimes and offences, the reason for which often is the +mere inability to secure an efficient defence. Although there are +several societies in London and the country dealing with the criminal +classes, and more particularly with discharged prisoners, yet there +does not appear to be one for the purpose of assisting unconvicted +prisoners. This work we propose boldly to take up. + +By this and many other ways we shall help those charged with criminal +offences, who, on a most careful enquiry, might reasonably be supposed +to be innocent, but who, through want of means, are unable to obtain +the legal assistance, and produce the evidence necessary for an +efficient defence. + +We shall not pretend authoritatively to judge as to who is innocent or +who is guilty, but if after full explanation and enquiry the person +charged may reasonably be supposed to be innocent, and is not in a +position to defend himself, then we should feel free to advise such a +case, hoping thereby to save such person and his family and friends +from much misery, and possibly from utter ruin. Mr. Justice Field +recently remarked: -- + +"For a man to assist another man who was under a criminal charge was a +highly laudable and praiseworthy act. If a man was without friends, +and an Englishman came forward and legitimately, and for the purpose of +honestly assisting him with means to put before the Court his case, +that was a highly laudable and praiseworthy act, and he should be the +last man in the country to complain of any man for so doing." + +These remarks are endorsed by most Judges and Magistrates, and our +Advice Bureau will give practical effect to them. + +In every case an attempt will be made to secure, not only the outward +reformation, but the actual regeneration of all whom we assist. +Special attention, as has been described under the "Criminal Reform +Department," will be paid to first offenders. + +We shall endeavour also to assist, as far as we have ability, the Wives +and Children of persons who are undergoing sentences, by endeavouring +to obtain for them employment, or otherwise rendering them help. +Hundreds of this class fall into the deepest distress and +demoralisation through want of friendly aid in the forlorn +circumstances in which they find themselves on the conviction of +relatives on whom they have been dependent for a livelihood, +or for protection and direction in the ordinary affairs of life. + +This Department will also be responsible for gathering intelligence, +spreading information, and the general prosecution of such measures as +are likely to lead to the much-needed beneficial changes in our Prison +Management. In short, it will seek to become the true friend and +saviour of the Criminal Classes in general, and in doing so we shall +desire to act in harmony with the societies at present in existence, +who may be seeking for objects kindred to the Advice Bureau. +We pen the following list to give some idea of the topics on which the +Advice Bureau may be consulted: -- + + Accidents, Claim for + Administration of Estates + Adulteration of Food and Drugs + Agency, Questions of + Agreements, Disputed + Affiliation Cases + Animals, Cruelty to + Arrest, Wrongful + Assault + + Bankruptcies + Bills of Exchange + Bills of Sale + Bonds, Forfeited + Breach of Promise + + Children, Cruelty to + Children, Custody of + Compensation for Injuries + Compensation for Accident + Compensation for Defamation + Compensation for Loss of Employment, &c., &c. + Confiscation by Landlords + Contracts, Breach of + Copyright, Infringement of + County Court Cases + + Debts + Distress, Illegal + Divorce + + Ejectment Cases + Employers Liability Act + Executors, Duties of + + Factory Act, Breach of + Fraud, Attempted + + Goodwill, Sale of + Guarantee, Forfeited + + Heir-at-Law + Husbands and Wives, Disputes of + + Imprisonment, False + Infants, Custody of + Intestacy, Cases of + + Judgment Summonses + + Landlord and Tenant Cases + Leases, Lapses and Renewals of + Legacies, Disputed + Libel Cases + Licences + + Marriage Law, Question of the + Masters' and Servants' Acts + Meeting, Right of Public + Mortgages + + Negligence, Alleged + Next of Kill Wanted + Nuisances, Alleged + + Partnership, The Law of + Patents, Registration and Infringement of + Pawnbrokers and their Pledges + Police Cases + Probate + + Rates and Taxes + Reversionary Interests + + Seduction, Cases of + Servants' Wrongful Dismissal + Sheriffs + Sureties Estreated + + Tenancies, Disputed + Trade Marks, Infringement of + Trespass, Cases of + Trustees and Trusts + + Wages Kept Back + Wills, Disputed and Unproved + Women, Cruelty to + Workmen, Grievances of &c.,&c. + +The Advice Bureau will therefore be, first of all, a place where men +and women in trouble can come when they please to communicate in +confidence the cause of their anxiety, with a certainty that they will +receive a sympathetic hearing and the best advice. + +Secondly, it will be a Poor Man's Lawyer, giving the best legal counsel +as to the course to be pursued in the various circumstances with which +the poor find themselves confronted. + +Thirdly, it will act as a Poor Man's Tribune, and will undertake the +defence of friendless prisoners supposed to be innocent, together with +the resistance of illegal extortions, and the prosecution of offenders +who refuse legal satisfaction for the wrongs they have committed. + +Fourthly, it will act wherever it is called upon as a Court of +Arbitration between litigants, where the decision will be according to +equity, and the costs cut down to the lowest possible figure. +Such a Department cannot be improvised; but it is already in a fair way +of development, and it can hardly fail to do great good. + + +SECTION 5.--OUR INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT. + +An indispensable adjunct of this Scheme will be the institution of what +may be called an Intelligence Department at Headquarters. Power, it +has been said, belongs to the best informed, and if we are effectually +to deal with the forces of social evil, we must have ready at our +fingers' ends the accumulated experience and information of the whole +world on this subject. The collection of facts and the systematic +record of them would be invaluable, rendering the result of the +experiments of previous generations available for the information of +our own. + +At the present there is no central institution, either governmental or +otherwise, in this country or any other, which charges itself with the +duty of collecting and collating the ideas and conclusions on Social +Economy, so far as they are likely to help the solution of the problem +we have in hand. The British Home Office has only begun to index its +own papers. The Local Government Board is in a similar condition, and, +although each particular Blue Book may be admirably indexed, there is +no classified index of the whole series. If this is the case with the +Government, it is not likely that the innumerable private organisations +which are pecking here and there at the social question should possess +any systematised method for the purpose of comparing notes and storing +information. This Intelligence Department, which I propose to found on +a small scale at first, will have in it the germ of vast extension +which will, if adequately supported become a kind of University, +in which the accumulated experiences of the human race will be massed, +digested, and rendered available to the humblest toiler in the great +work of social reform. At the present moment, who is there that can +produce in any of our museums and universities as much as a classified +index of publications relating to one of the many heads under which I +have dealt with this subject? Who is there among all our wise men and +social reformers that can send me a list of all the best tracts upon-- +say, the establishment of agricultural colonies or the experiments that +have been made in dealing with inebriates; or the best plans for the +construction of a working man's cottage? + +For the development of this Scheme I want an Office to begin with, in +which, under the head of the varied subjects treated of in this volume, +I may have arranged the condensed essence of all the best books that +have been written, and the names and addresses of those whose opinions +are worth having upon them, together with a note of what those opinions +are, and the results of experiments which have been made in relation to +them. I want to establish a system which will enable me to use, +not only the eyes and hands of Salvation Officers, but of sympathetic +friends in all parts of the world, for purposes of noticing and +reporting at once every social experiment of importance, any words of +wisdom on the social question, whether it may be the breeding of +rabbits, the organisation of an emigration service, the best method of +conducting a Cottage Farm, or the best way of cooking potatoes. +There is nothing in the whole range of our operations upon which we +should not be accumulating and recording the results of human +experience. What I want is to get the essence of wisdom which the +wisest have gathered from the widest experience, rendered instantly +available for the humblest worker in the Salvation Factory or Farm +Colony, and for any other toiler in similar fields of social progress. + +It can be done, and in the service of the people it ought to be done. +I look for helpers in this department among those who hitherto may not +have cared for the Salvation Army, but who in the seclusion of their +studies and libraries will assist in the compiling of this great Index +of Sociological Experiments, and who would be willing, in this form, +to help in this Scheme, as Associates, for the ameliorating of the +condition of the people, if in nothing else than in using their eyes +and ears, and giving me the benefit of their brains as to where +knowledge lies, and how it can best be utilised. I propose to make a +beginning by putting two capable men and a boy in an office, with +instructions to cut out, preserve, and verify all contemporary records +in the daily and weekly press that have a bearing upon any branch of +our departments. Round these two men and a boy will grow up, +I confidently believe, a vast organisation of zealous unpaid workers, +who will co-operate in making our Intelligence Department a great +storehouse of information--a universal library where any man may +learn what is the sum of human knowledge upon any branch of the subject +which we have taken in hand. + + +SECTION 6.--CO-OPERATION IN GENERAL. + +If anyone asked me to state in one word what seemed likely to be the +key of the solution of the Social Problem I should answer +unhesitatingly Co-operation. It being always understood that it is +Co-operation conducted on righteous principles, and for wise and +benevolent ends; otherwise Association cannot be expected to bear any +more profitable fruit than Individualism. Co-operation is applied +association--association for the purpose of production and +distribution. Co-operation implies the voluntary combination of +individuals to the attaining an object by mutual help, mutual counsel, +and mutual effort. There is a great deal of idle talk in the world +just now about capital, as if capital were the enemy of labour. +It is quite true that there are capitalists not a few who may be +regarded as the enemies, not only of labour, but of the human race; +but capital itself, so far from being a natural enemy of labour, +is the great object which the labourer has constantly in view. +However much an agitator may denounce capital, his one great grievance +is that he has not enough of it for himself. Capital, therefore, is +not an evil in itself; on the contrary, it is good--so good that one +of the great aims of the social reformer ought to be to facilitate its +widest possible distribution among his fellow-men. It is the +congestion of capital that is evil, and the labour question will never +be finally solved until every labourer is his own capitalist. + +All this is trite enough, and has been said a thousand times already, +but, unfortunately, with the saying of it the matter ends. +Co-operation has been brought into practice in relation to distribution +with considerable success, but co-operation, as a means of production, +has not achieved anything like the success that was anticipated. +Again and again enterprises have been begun on co-operative principles +which bid fair, in the opinion of the promoters, to succeed; but after +one, two, three, or ten years, the enterprise which was started with +such high hopes has dwindled away into either total or partial failure. +At present, many co-operative undertakings are nothing more or less +than huge Joint Stock Limited Liability concerns, shares of which are +held largely by working people, but not necessarily, and sometimes not +at all by those who are actually employed in the so-called co-operative +business. Now, why is this? Why do co-operative firms, co-operative +factories, and co-operative Utopias so very often come to grief? +I believe the cause is an open secret, and can be discerned by anyone +who will look at the subject with an open eye. + +The success of industrial concerns is largely a question of management. +Management signifies government, and government implies authority, +and authority is the last thing which co-operators of the Utopian order +are willing to recognise as an element essential to the success of +their Schemes. The co-operative institution which is governed on +Parliamentary principles, with unlimited right of debate and right of +obstruction, will never be able to compete successfully with +institutions which are directed by a single brain wielding the united +resources of a disciplined and obedient army of workers. Hence, to +make co-operation a success you must superadd to the principle of +consent the principle of authority; you must invest in those to whom +you entrust the management of your co-operative establishment the same +liberty of action that is possessed by the owner of works on the other +side of the repudiation of the rotten and effete regime of the +Bourbons, the French peasants and workmen imagined that they were +inaugurating the millennium when they scrawled Liberty, Equality, and +Fraternity across all the churches in every city of France. +They carried their principles of freedom and license to the logical +ultimate, and attempted to manage their army on Parliamentary +principles. It did not work; their undisciplined levies were driven +back; disorder reigned in the Republican camp; and the French +Revolution would have been stifled in its cradle had not the instinct +of the nation discerned in time the weak point in its armour. +Menaced by foreign wars and intestine revolt, the Republic established +an iron discipline in its army, and enforced obedience by the summary +process of military execution. The liberty and the enthusiasm +developed by the outburst of the long pent-up revolutionary forces +supplied the motive power, but it was the discipline of the +revolutionary armies, the stern, unbending obedience which was enforced +in all ranks from the highest to the lowest, which created for Napoleon +the admirable military instrument by which he shattered every throne in +Europe and swept in triumph from Paris to Moscow. + +In industrial affairs we are very much like the French Republic before +it tempered its doctrine of the rights of man by the duty of obedience +on the part of the soldier. We have got to introduce discipline into +the industrial army, we have to superadd the principle of authority to +the principle of co-operation, and so to enable the worker to profit to +the full by the increased productiveness of the willing labour of men +who are employed in their own workshops and on their own property. +There is no need to clamour for great schemes of State Socialism. +The whole thing can be done simply, economically, and speedily if only +the workers will practice as much self-denial for the sake of +establishing themselves as capitalists, as the Soldiers of the +Salvation Army practice every year in Self Denial Week. What is the +sense of never making a levy except during a strike? Instead of calling +for a shilling, or two shillings, a week in order to maintain men who +are starving in idleness because of a dispute with their masters, +why should there not be a levy kept up for weeks or months, by the +workers, for the purpose of setting themselves up in business as +masters? There would then be no longer a capitalist owner face to face +with the masses of the proletariat, but all the means of production, +the plant, and all the accumulated resources of capital would really be +at the disposal of labour. This will never be done, however, as long +as co-operative experiments are carried on in the present archaic +fashion. + +Believing in co-operation as the ultimate solution, if to co-operation +you can add subordination, I am disposed to attempt something in this +direction in my new Social Scheme. I shall endeavour to start a +Co-operative Farm on the principles of Ralahine, and base the whole of +my Farm Colony on a Co-operative foundation. + +In starting this little Co-operative Commonwealth, I am reminded by +those who are always at a man's elbow to fill him with forebodings of +ill, to look at the failures, which I have just referred to, which make +up the history of the attempt to realise ideal commonwealths in this +practical workaday world. Now, I have read the history of the many +attempts at co-operation that have been made to form communistic +settlements in the United States, and am perfectly familiar with the +sorrowful fate with which nearly all have been overtaken; but the story +of their failures does not deter me in the least, for I regard them as +nothing more than warnings to avoid certain mistakes, beacons to +illustrate the need of proceeding on a different tack. +Broadly speaking, your experimental communities fail because your +Utopias all start upon the system of equality and government by vote of +the majority, and, as a necessary and unavoidable consequence, +your Utopians get to loggerheads, and Utopia goes to smash, I shall +avoid that rock. The Farm Colony, like all the other departments of +the Scheme, will be governed, not on the principle of counting noses, +but on the exactly opposite principle of admitting no noses into the +concern that are not willing to be guided by the directing brain. +It will be managed on principles which assert that the fittest ought to +rule, and it will provide for the fittest being selected, and having +got them at the top, will insist on universal and unquestioning +obedience from those at the bottom. If anyone does not like to work +for his rations and submit to the orders of his superior Officers he +can leave. There is no compulsion on him to stay. The world is wide, +and outside the confines of our Colony and the operations of our Corps +my authority does not extend. But judging from our brief experience it +is not from revolt against authority that the Scheme is destined to +fail. + +There cannot be a greater mistake in this world than to imagine that +men object to be governed. They like to be governed, provided that the +governor has his "head screwed on right" and that he is prompt to hear +and ready to see and recognise all that is vital to the interests of +the commonwealth. So far from there being an innate objection on the +part of mankind to being governed, the instinct to obey is so universal +that even when governments have gone blind, and deaf, and paralytic, +rotten with corruption, and hopelessly behind the times, they still +contrive to live on. Against a capable Government no people ever +rebel, only when stupidity and incapacity have taken possession of the +seat of power do insurrections break out. + + +SECTION 7.--A MATRIMONIAL BUREAU. + +There is another direction in which something ought to be done to +restore the natural advantages enjoyed by every rural community which +have been destroyed by the increasing tendency of mankind to come +together in huge masses. I refer to that which is after all one of the +most important elements in every human life, that of marrying and +giving in marriage. In the natural life of a country village all the +lads and lasses grow up together, they meet together in religious +associations, in daily employments, and in their amusements on the +village green. They have learned their A, B, C and pothooks together, +and when the time comes for pairing off they have had excellent +opportunities of knowing the qualities and the defects of those whom +they select as their partners in life. Everything in such a community +lends itself naturally to the indispensable preliminaries of +love-making, and courtships, which, however much they may be laughed at, +contribute more than most things to the happiness or life. But in a +great city all this is destroyed. In London at the present moment how +many hundreds, nay thousands, of young men and young women, who are +living in lodgings, are practically without any opportunity of making +the acquaintance of each other, or of any one of the other sex! +The street is no doubt the city substitute for the village green, +and what a substitute it is! + +It has been bitterly said by one who knew well what he was talking +about, "There are thousands of young men to-day who have no right to +call any woman by her Christian name, except the girls they meet plying +their dreadful trade in our public thoroughfares." As long as that is +the case, vice has an enormous advantage over virtue; such an abnormal +social arrangement interdicts morality and places a vast premium upon +prostitution. We must get back to nature if we have to cope with this +ghastly evil. There ought to be more opportunities afforded for +healthy human intercourse between young men and young women, nor can +Society rid itself of a great responsibility for all the wrecks of +manhood and womanhood with which our streets are strewn, unless it does +make some attempt to bridge this hideous chasm which yawns between the +two halves of humanity. The older I grow the more absolutely am I +opposed to anything that violates the fundamental law of the family. +Humanity is composed of two sexes, and woe be to those who attempt to +separate them into distinct bodies, making of each half one whole! +It has been tried in monasteries and convents with but poor success, +yet what our fervent Protestants do not seem to see is that we are +reconstructing a similar false system for our young people without the +safeguards and the restraints of convent walls or the sanctifying +influence of religious conviction. The conditions of City life, +the absence of the enforced companionship of the village and small +town, the difficulty of young people finding harmless opportunities of +friendly intercourse, all tends to create classes of celibates who are +not chaste, and whose irregular and lawless indulgence of a universal +instinct is one of the most melancholy features of the present state of +society. Nay, so generally is this recognised, that one of the terms +by which one of the consequences of this unnatural state of things is +popularly known is "the social evil," as if all other social evils were +comparatively unworthy of notice in comparison to this. + +While I have been busily occupied in working out my Scheme for the +registration of labour, it has occurred to me more than once, why could +not something like the same plan be adopted in relation to men who want +wives and women who want husbands? Marriage is with most people largely +a matter or opportunity. Many a man and many a woman, who would, +if they had come together, have formed a happy household, are leading +at this moment miserable and solitary lives, suffering in body and in +soul, in consequence of their exclusion from the natural state of +matrimony. Of course, the registration of the unmarried who wish to +marry would be a matter of much greater delicacy than the registration +of the joiners and stone-masons who wish to obtain work. But the thing +is not impossible. I have repeatedly found in my experience that many +a man and many a woman would only be too glad to have a friendly hint +as to where they might prosecute their attentions or from which they +might receive proposals. In connection with such an agency, if it were +established--for I am mot engaging to undertake this task-- +I am only throwing out a possible suggestion as to the development in +the direction of meeting a much needed want, there might be added +training homes for matrimony. My heart bleeds for many a young couple +whom I see launching out into the sea of matrimony with no housewifery +experience. The young girls who leave our public elementary schools +and go out into factories have never been trained to home duties, and +yet, when taken to wife, are unreasonably expected to fill worthily the +difficult positions of the head of a household and the mother of a +family. A month spent before marriage in a training home of +housewifery would conduce much more to the happiness of the married +life than the honeymoon which immediately follows it. + +Especially is this the case with those who marry to go abroad and +settle in a distant country. I often marvel when I think of the utter +helplessness of the modern woman, compared with the handiness of her +grandmother. How many of our girls can even bake a loaf? The baker has +killed out one of our fundamental domestic arts. But if you are in the +Backwoods or in the Prairie or in the Bush, no baker's cart comes round +every morning with the new-made bread, and I have often thought with +sorrow of the kind of stuff which this poor wife must serve up to her +hungry husband. As it is with baking, so it is with washing, with +milking, with spinning, with all the arts and sciences of the +household, which were formerly taught, as a matter of course, to all +the daughters who were born in the world. Talk about woman's rights, +one of the first of woman's rights is to be trained to her trade, to be +queen of her household, and mother of her children. + +Speaking of colonists leads me to the suggestion whether something +could not be done to supply, on a well-organised system, the thousands +of bachelor miners or the vast host of unmarried males who are +struggling with the wilderness on the outskirts of civilisation, +with capable wives from the overplus of marriageable females who abound +in our great towns. Woman supplied in adequate quantities is the great +moraliser of Society, but woman doled out as she is in the Far West and +the Australian bush, in the proportion of one woman to about a dozen +men, is a fertile source of vice and crime. Here again we must get +back to nature, whose fundamental laws our social arrangements have +rudely set on one side with consequences which as usual she does not +fail to exact with remorseless severity. There have always been born +into the world and continue to be born boys and girls in fairly equal +proportions, but with colonising and soldiering our men go away, +leaving behind them a continually growing surplus of marriageable but +unmarried spinsters, who cannot spin, and who are utterly unable to +find themselves husbands. This is a wide field on the discussion of +which I must not enter. I merely indicate it as one of those +departments in which an intelligent philanthropy might find a great +sphere for its endeavours; but it would be better not to touch it at +all than to deal with it with light-hearted precipitancy and without +due consideration of all the difficulties and dangers connected +therewith. Obstacles, however, exist to be overcome and converted into +victories. There is even a certain fascination about the difficult and +dangerous, which appeals very strongly to all who know that it is the +apparently insolvable difficulty which contains within its bosom the +key to the problem which you are seeking to solve. + + +SECTION 8.--WHITECHAPEL-BY-THE-SEA. + +In considering the various means by which some substantial improvement +can be made in the condition of the toiling masses, recreation cannot +be omitted. I have repeatedly had forced upon me the desirability of +making it possible for them to spend a few hours occasionally by the +seaside, or even at times three or four days. Notwithstanding the +cheapened rates and frequent excursions, there are multitudes of the +poor who, year in and out, never get beyond the crowded city, with the +exception of dragging themselves and their children now and then to the +parks on holidays or hot summer evenings. The majority, especially the +inhabitants of the East of London, never get away from the sunless +alleys and grimy streets in which they exist from year to year. +It is true that a few here and there of the adult population, and a +good many of the children, have a sort of annual charity excursion to +Epping Forest, Hampton Court, or perhaps to the sea. But it is only +the minority. The vast number, while possessed of a passionate love of +the sea, which only those who have mixed with them can conceive, +pass their whole lives without having once looked over its blue waters, +or watched its waves breaking at their feet. + +Now I am not so foolish as to dream that it is possible to make any +such change in Society as will enable the poor man to take his wife and +children for a fortnight's sojourn, during the oppressive summer days, +to brace them up for their winter's task, although this might be as +desirable in their case as in that of their more highly favoured +fellow-creatures. But I would make it possible for every man; +woman and child, to get, now and then, a day's refreshing change by a +visit to that never-failing source of interest. In the carrying out of +this plan, we are met at the onset with a difficulty of some little +magnitude, and that is the necessity of a vastly reduced charge in the +cost of the journey. To do anything effective we must be able to get a +man from Whitechapel or Stratford to the sea-side and back for a +shilling. + +Unfortunately, London is sixty miles from the sea. Suppose we take it +at seventy miles. This would involve a journey of one hundred and +forty miles for the small sum of 1s. Can this be done? I think it can, +and done to pay the railway companies; otherwise there is no ground to +hope for this part of my Scheme ever being realised. But I think that +this great boon can be granted to the poor people without the dividends +being sensibly affected. I am told that the cost of haulage for an +ordinary passenger train, carrying from five hundred to a thousand +persons, is 2s. 7d. per mile; a railway company could take six +hundred passengers seventy miles there, and bring them seventy miles +back, at a cost of #18 1s. 8d. Six hundred passengers at a shilling is +#30, so that there would be a clear profit to the company of nearly #12 +on the haulage, towards the payment of interest on the capital, wear +and tear of line, &c. But I reckon, at a very moderate computation, +that two hundred thousand persons would travel to and fro every season. +An addition of #10,000 to the exchequer of a railway company is not to +be despised and this would be a mere bagatelle to the indirect profits +which would follow the establishment of a settlement which must in due +course necessarily become very speedily a large and active community. + +This it would be necessary to bring home to the railway companies, and +for the execution of this part of my Scheme I must wait till I get some +manager sufficiently public-spirited to try the experiment. When such a +man is found, I purpose to set at once about my Sea-Side Establishment. +This will present the following special advantages, which I am quite +certain will be duly appreciated by the very poorest of the London +population: -- + +An estate of some three hundred acres would be purchased on which +buildings would be erected, calculated to meet the wants of this class +of excursionists. + +Refreshments would be provided at rates very similar to those charged +at our London Food Depots. There would, of course, be greater +facilities in the way of rooms and accommodation generally. + +Lodgings for invalids, children, and those requiring to make a short +stay in the place would be supplied at the lowest prices. Beds for +single men and single women could be charged at the low rate of +sixpence a night, and children in proportion, while accommodation of a +suitable character, on very moderate terms, could be arranged for +married people. + +No public-houses would be allowed within the precincts of the +settlement. + +A park, playground, music, boats, covered conveniences for bathing, +without the expense of hiring a machine, and other arrangements for the +comfort and enjoyment of the people would be provided. + +The estate would form one of the Colonies of the general enterprise, +and on it would be grown fruit, vegetables, flowers, and other produce +for the use of the visitors, and sold at the lowest remunerative rates. +One of the first provisions for the comfort of the excursionists would +be the erection of a large hall, affording ample shelter in case of +unfavourable weather, and in this and other parts of the place there +would be the fullest opportunity for ministers of all denominations to +hold religious services in connection with any excursionists they might +bring with them. + +There would be shops for tradesmen, houses for residets, a museum with +a panorama and stuffed whale; boats would be let out at moderate +prices, and a steamer to carry people so many miles out to sea, +and so many miles back for a penny, with a possible bout of sickness, +for which no extra charge would be made. + +In fact the railway fares and refreshment arrangements would be on such +a scale, that a husband and wife could have a 70-mile ride through the +green fields, the new-mown hay, the waving grain or fruit laden +orchards; could wander for hours on the seashore, have comforting and +nourishing refreshment, and be landed back at home sober, cheered and +invigorated for the small sum of 3s. A couple of children under 12 +might be added at 1s. 6d.--nay, a whole family, husband, wife and +four children, supposing one is in arms, could have a day at the +seaside, without obligation or charity, for 5s. + +The gaunt, hungry inhabitants of the Slums would save up their +halfpence, and come by thousands; clergymen would find it possible to +bring half the poor and needy occupants of their parishes; schools, +mothers' meetings, and philanthropic societies of all descriptions +would come down wholesale; in short, what Brighton is to the West End +and middle classes, this place would be to the East End poor, nay, to +the poor of the Metropolis generally, a Whitechapel-by-the-Sea. + +Now this ought to be done apart from my Scheme altogether. The rich +corporations which have the charge of the affairs of this great City, +and the millionaires, who would never have amassed their fortunes but +by the assistance of the masses, ought to say it shall be done. +Suppose the Railway Companies refused to lend the great highways of +which they have become the monopolists for such an undertaking without +a subvention, then the necessary subvention should be forthcoming. +If it could be made possible for the joyless toilers to come out of the +sweater's den, or the stifling factory; if the seamstress could leave +her needle, and the mother get away from the weary round of babydom and +household drudgery for a day now and then, to the cooling, +invigorating, heart-stirring influences of the sea, it should be done, +even if it did cost a few paltry thousands. Let the men and women who +spend a little fortune every year in Continental tours, Alpine +climbings, yacht excursions, and many another form of luxurious +wanderings, come forward and say that it shall be possible for these +crowds of their less fortunate brethren to have the opportunity of +spending one day at least in the year by the sea. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CAN IT BE DONE, AND HOW? + +SECTION 1.--THE CREDENTIALS OF THE SALVATION ARMY. + +Can this great work be done? I believe it can. And I believe that it +can be done by the Salvation Army, because it has ready to hand an +organisation of men and women, numerous enough and zealous enough to +grapple with the enormous undertaking. The work may prove beyond our +powers. But this is not so manifest as to preclude us from wishing to +make the attempt. That in itself is a qualification which is shared by +no other organisation--at present. If we can do it we have the field +entirely to ourselves. The wealthy churches show no inclination to +compete for the onerous privilege of making the experiment in this +definite and practical form. Whether we have the power or not, +we have, at least, the will, the ambition to do this great thing for +the sake of our brethren, and therein lies our first credential for +being entrusted with the enterprise. + +The second credential is the fact that, while using all material means, +our reliance is on the co-working power of God. We keep our powder +dry, but we trust in Jehovah. We go not forth in our own strength to +this battle, our dependence is upon Him who can influence the heart of +man. There is no doubt that the most satisfactory method of raising a +man must be to effect such a change in his views and feelings that he +shall voluntarily abandon his evil ways, give himself to industry and +goodness in the midst of the very temptations and companionships that +before led him astray, and live a Christian life, an example in himself +of what can be done by the power of God in the very face of the most +impossible circumstances. + +But herein lies the great difficulty again and again referred to, +men have not that force of character which will constrain them to avail +themselves of the methods of deliverance. Now our Scheme is based on +the necessity of helping such. + +Our third credential is the fact that we have already out of +practically nothing achieved so great a measure of success that we +think we may reasonably be entrusted with this further duty. +The ordinary operations of the Army have already effected most +wonderful changes in the conditions of the poorest and worst. +Multitudes of slaves of vice in every form have been delivered not only +from these habits, but from the destitution and misery which they even +produce. Instances have been given. Any number more can be produced. +Our experience, which has been almost world-wide, has ever shown that +not only does the criminal become honest, the drunkard sober, +the harlot chaste, but that poverty of the most abject and helpless +type vanishes away. Our fourth credential is that our Organisation +alone of England's religious bodies is founded upon the principle of +implicit obedience. + +For Discipline I can answer. The Salvation Army, largely recruited +from among the poorest of the poor, is often reproached by its enemies +on account of the severity of its rule. It is the only religious body +founded in our time that is based upon the principle of voluntary +subjection to an absolute authority. No one is bound to remain in the +Army a day longer than he pleases. While he remains there he is bound +by the conditions of the Service. The first condition of that Service +is implicit, unquestioning obedience. The Salvationist is taught to +obey as is the soldier on the field of battle. + +From the time when the Salvation Army began to acquire strength and to +grow from the grain of mustard seed until now, when its branches +overshadow the whole earth, we have been constantly warned against the +evils which this autocratic system would entail. Especially were we +told that in a democratic age the people would never stand the +establishment of what was described as a spiritual despotism. +It was contrary to the spirit of the times, it would be a stone of +stumbling and a rock of offence to the masses to whom we appeal, +and so forth and so forth. + +But what has been the answer of accomplished facts to these predictions +of theorists? Despite the alleged unpopularity of our discipline, +perhaps because of the rigour of military authority upon which we have +insisted, the Salvation Army has grown from year to year with a +rapidity to which nothing in modern Christendom affords any parallel. +It is only twenty-five years since it was born. It is now the largest +Home and Foreign Missionary Society in the Protestant world. We have +nearly 10,000 officers under our orders, a number increasing every day, +every one of whom has taken service on the express condition that he or +she will obey without questioning or gainsaying the orders from +Headquarters. Of these, 4,600 are in Great Britain. The greatest +number outside these islands, in any one country, are in the American +Republic, where we have 1,018 officers, and democratic Australia, +where we have 800. + +Nor is the submission to our discipline a mere paper loyalty. +These officers are in the field, constantly exposed to privation +and ill-treatment of all kinds. A telegram from me will send any of +them to the uttermost parts of the earth, will transfer them from the +Slums of London to San Francisco, or despatch them to assist in opening +missions in Holland, Zululand, Sweden, or South America. So far from +resenting the exercise of authority, the Salvation Army rejoices to +recognise it as one great secret of its success, a pillar of strength +upon which all its soldiers can rely, a principle which stamps it as +being different from all other religious organisations founded in our +day. + +With ten thousand officers, trained to obey, and trained equally to +command, I do not feel that the organisation even of the disorganised, +sweated, hopeless, drink-sodden denizens of darkest England is +impossible. It is possible, because it has already been accomplished +in the case of thousands who, before they were saved, were even such as +those whose evil lot we are now attempting to deal with. + +Our fifth credential is the extent and universality of the Army. +What a mighty agency for working out the Scheme is found in the Army in +this respect! This will be apparent when we consider that it has +already stretched itself through over thirty different Countries and +Colonies, with a permanent location in something like 4,000 different +places, that it has either soldiers or friends sufficiently in sympathy +with it to render assistance in almost every considerable population in +the civilised world, and in much of the uncivilised, that it has nearly +10,000 separated officers whose training, and leisure, and history +qualify them to become its enthusiastic and earnest co-workers. +In fact, our whole people will hail it as the missing link in the great +Scheme for the regeneration of mankind, enabling them to act out those +impulses of their hearts which are ever prompting them to do good to +the bodies as well as to the souls of men. + +Take the meetings. With few exceptions, every one of these four +thousand centres has a Hall in which, on every evening in the week and +from early morning until nearly midnight on every Sabbath, services are +being held; that nearly every service held indoors is preceded by one +out of doors, the special purport of every one being the saving of +these wretched crowds. Indeed, when this Scheme is perfected and +fairly at work, every meeting and every procession will be looked upon +as an advertisement of the earthly as well as the heavenly conditions +of happiness. And every Barracks and Officer's quarters will become a +centre where poor sinful suffering men and women may find sympathy, +counsel, and practical assistance in every sorrow that can possibly +come upon them, and every Officer throughout our ranks in every quarter +of the globe will become a co-worker. + +See how useful our people will be in the gathering in of this class. +They are in touch with them. They live in the same street, work in the +same shops and factories, and come in contact with them at every turn +and corner of life. If they don't live amongst them, they formerly did. +They know where to find them; they are their old chums, pot-house +companions, and pals in crime and mischief. This class is the +perpetual difficulty of a Salvationist's life. He feels that there is +no help for them in the conditions in which they are at present found. +They are so hopelessly weak, and their temptations are so terribly +strong, that they go down before them. The Salvationist feels this +when he attacks them in the tap-rooms, in the low lodging houses, or in +their own desolate homes. Hence, with many, the Crusader has lost all +heart. He has tried them so often. But this Scheme of taking them +right away from their old haunts and temptations will put new life into +him and he will gather up the poor social wrecks wholesale, pass them +along, and then go and hunt for more. + +Then see how useful this army of Officers and Soldiers will be for the +regeneration of this festering mass of vice and crime when it is, so to +speak, in our possession. All the thousands of drunkards, and harlots, +and blasphemers, and idlers have to be made over again, to be renewed +in the spirit of their minds, that is--made good. What a host of +moral workers will be required to accomplish such a gigantic +transformation. In the Army we have a few thousands ready, anyway we +have as many as can be used at the outset, and the Scheme itself will +go on manufacturing more. Look at the qualifications of these warriors +for the work! + +They have been trained themselves, brought into line and are examples +of the characters we want to produce. + +They understand their pupils--having been dug out of the same pit. +Set a rogue to catch a rogue, they say, that is, we suppose, are formed +rogue. Anyway, it is so with us. These rough-and-ready warriors will +work shoulder to shoulder with them in the same manual employment. +They will engage in the task for love. This is a substantial part of +their religion, the moving instinct of the new heavenly nature that has +come upon them. They want to spend their lives in doing good. +Here will be an opportunity. + +Then see how useful these Soldiers will be for distribution! +Every Salvation Officer and Soldier in every one of these 4,000 +centres, scattered through these thirty odd countries and colonies, +with all their correspondents and friends and comrades living +elsewhere, will be ever on the watch-tower looking out for homes and +employments where these rescued men and women can be fixed up to +advantage, nursed into moral vigour, picked up again on stumbling, +and watched over generally until able to travel the rough and slippery +paths of life alone. + +I am, therefore, not without warrant for my confidence in the +possibility of doing great things, if the problem so long deemed +hopeless be approached with intelligence and determination on a scale +corresponding to the magnitude of the evil with which we have to cope. + + +SECTION 2.--HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? + +A considerable amount of money will be required to fairly launch this +Scheme, and some income may be necessary to sustain it for a season, +but, once fairly afloat, we think there is good reason to believe that +in all its branches it will be self-supporting, unless its area of +operation is largely extended, on which we fully rely. Of course, +the cost of the effort must depend very much upon its magnitude. +If anything is to be done commensurate with the extent of the evil, +it will necessarily require a proportionate outlay. If it is only the +drainage of a garden that is undertaken, a few pounds will meet the +cost, but if it is a great dismal swamp of many miles in area, +harbouring all manner of vermin, and breeding all kinds of deadly +malaria, that has to be reclaimed and cultivated, a very different sum +will not only be found necessary, but be deemed an economic investment. + +Seeing that the country pays out something like Ten Millions per annum +in Poor Law and Charitable Relief without securing any real abatement +of the evil, I cannot doubt that the public will hasten to supply +one-tenth of that sum. If you reckon that of the submerged tenth we +have one million to deal with, this will only be one pound per head for +each of those whom it is sought to benefit, or say ONE MILLION STERLING +to give the present Scheme a fair chance of getting into practical +operation. + +According to the amount furnished, must necessarily be the extent of +our operations. We have carefully calculated that with one hundred +thousand pounds the scheme can be successfully set in motion, +and that it can be kept going on an annual income of #30,000 +which is about three and a-quarter per cent. on the balance of the +million sterling, for which I ask as an earnest that the public intend +to put its hand to this business with serious resolution; and our +judgment is based, not on any mere imaginings, but upon the actual +result of the experiments already made. Still it must be remembered +that so vast and desirable an end cannot be even practically +contemplated without a proportionate financial outlay. Supposing, +however, by the subscription of this amount the undertaking is fairly +set afloat. The question may be asked, "What further funds will be +required for its efficient maintenance?" This question we proceed to +answer. Let us look at the three Colonies apart, and then at some of +the circumstances which apply to the whole. To begin with, there is + +THE FINANCIAL ASPECT OF THE CITY COLONY. + +Here there will be, of course, a considerable outlay required for the +purchasing and fitting up of property, the acquisition of machinery, +furniture, tools, and the necessary plant for carrying forward all +these varied operations. These once acquired, no further outlay will +be needed except for the necessary reparations. + +The Homes for the Destitute will be nearly, if not quite, self-sustaining. +The Superior Homes for both Single and Married people will not only pay +for themselves, but return some interest on the amount invested, which +would be devoted to the futherance of other parts of the Scheme. + +The Refuges for Fallen Girls would require considerable funds to keep +them going. But the public has never been slow to practically express +its sympathy with this class of work. + +The Criminal Homes and Prison Gate Operations would require continued +help, but not a very great deal. Then, the work in the Slums is +somewhat expensive. The eighty young women at present engaged in it +cost on an average 12s. per week each for personal maintenance, +inclusive of clothes and other little matters, and there are expenses +for Halls and some little relief which cannot in anyway be avoided, +bringing our present annual Slum outlay to over #4,000. But the poor +people amongst whom they work notwithstanding their extreme poverty, +are already contributing over #1,000 per annum towards this amount, +which income will increase. Still as by this Scheme we propose to add +at once a hundred to the number already engaged, money will be required +to keep th is department going. + +The Inebriate Home, I calculate, will maintain itself. All its inmates +will have to engage in some kind of remunerative labour, and we +calculate, in addition, upon receiving money with a considerable number +of those availing themselves of its benefits. But to practically +assist the half-million slaves of the cup we must have money not only +to launch out but to keep our operations going. + +The Food Depots, once fitted up, pay their own working expenses. + +The Emigration, Advice, and Inquiry Bureaux must maintain themselves or +nearly so. The Labour Shops, Anti-Sweating, and other similar +operations will without question require money to make ends meet. +But on the whole, a very small sum of money, in proportion to the +immense amount of work done, will enable us to accomplish a vast deal +of good. + +THE FARM COLONY FROM A FINANCIAL POINT OF VIEW. + +Let us now turn to the Farm Colony, and consider it from a monetary +standpoint. Here also a certain amount of money will have to be +expended at the outset; some of the chief items of which will be the +purchase of land, the erection of buildings, the supply of stock, and +the production of first crops. There is an abundance of land in the +market, at the present time, at very low prices. It is rather +important for the initial experiment that an estate should be obtained +not too far from London, with land suitable for immediate cultivation. +Such an estate would beyond question be expensive. After a time, +I have no doubt, we shall be able to deal with land of almost any +quality (and that in almost any part of the country), in consequence of +the superabundance of labour we shall possess. There is no question if +the scheme goes forward, but that estates will be required in +connection with all our large towns and cities. I am not without hope +that a sufficient quantity of land will be given, or, in any way, +sold to us on very favourable terms. + +When acquired and stocked, it is calculated that this land, +if cultivated by spade husbandry, will support at least two persons +per acre. The ordinary reckoning of those who have had experience +with allotments gives five persons to three acres. +But, even supposing that this calculation is a little too sanguine, +we can still reckon a farm of 500 acres supporting, without any +outside assistance, say, 750 persons. But, in this Scheme, we should +have many advantages not possessed by the simple peasant, such as +those resulting from combination, market gardening, and the other +forms of cultivation already referred to, and thus we should want to +place two or three times this number on that quantity of land. + +By a combination of City and Town Colonies, there will be a market for +at least a large portion of the products. At the rate of our present +consumption in the London Food Depots and Homes for the Destitute +alone, at least 50 acres would be required for potatoes alone, +and every additional Colonist would be an additional consumer. + +There will be no rent to pay, as it is proposed to buy the land right +out. In the event of a great rush being made for the allotment's +spoken of, further land might be rented, with option of purchase. + +Of course, the continuous change of labourers would tell against the +profitableness of the undertaking. But this would be proportionally +beneficial to the country, seeing that everyone who passes through the +institution with credit makes one less in the helpless crowd. + +The rent of Cottages and Allotments would constitute a small return, +and at least pay interest on the money invested in them. + +The labour spent upon the Colony would be constantly increasing its +money value. Cottages would be built, orchards planted, land enriched, +factories run up, warehouses erected, while other improvements would be +continually going forward. All the labour and a large part of the +material would be provided by the Colonists themselves. + +It may be suggested that the worker would nave to be maintained during +the progress of these erections and manufactures, the cost of which +would in itself amount to a considerable sum. Truer and for this the +first outlay would be required. But after this every cottage erected, +every road made, in short every structure and improvement, would be a +means of carrying forward the regenerating process, and in many cases +it is expected will become a source of income. + +As the Scheme progresses, it is not irrational to expect that +Government, or some of the varied Local Authorities, will assist in the +working out of a plan which, in so marked a manner, will relieve the +rates and taxes or the country. + +The salaries of Officers would be in keeping with those given in the +Salvation Army, which are very low. + +No wages would be paid to Colonists, as has been described, beyond +pocket money and a trifle for extra service. + +Although no permanent invalid would be knowingly taken into the +Colonies, it is fair to assume that there will be a certain number, +and also a considerable residuum of naturally indolent, half-witted +people, incapable of improvement, left upon our hands. Still, it is +thought that with reformed habits, variety of employment, and careful +oversight, such may be made to earn their own maintenance, at least, +especially when it is borne in mind that unless they work, so far as +they have ability, they cannot remain in the Colony. + +If the Household Salvage Scheme which has been explained in Chapter II. +proves the success we anticipate, there can be no question that great +financial assistance will be rendered by it to the entire scheme when +once the whole thing has been brought into working order. + +THE FINANCIAL ASPECT OF THE COLONY OVER-SEA. + +Let us now turn to the Colony Over-Sea, and regard it also from the +financial standpoint. Here we must occupy ourselves chiefly with the +preliminary outlay, as we could not for a moment contemplate having to +find money to assist it when once fairly established. The initial +expense will, no doubt, be somewhat heavy, but not beyond a reasonable +amount. + +The land required would probably be given, whether we go to Africa, +Canada, or elsewhere; anyway, it would be acquired on such easy terms +as would be a near approach to a gift. + +A considerable sum would certainly be necessary for effecting the first +settlements. There would be temporary buildings to erect, land to +break up and crop; stock, farm implements, and furniture to purchase, +and other similar expenses. But this would not be undertaken on a +large scale, as we should rely, to some extent, on the successive +batches of Colonists more or less providing for themselves, and in this +respect working out their own salvation. + +The amount advanced for passages, outfit money, and settlement would be +repaid by instalments by the Colonists, which would in turn serve to +pay the cost of conveying others to the same destination. + +Passage and outfit money would, no doubt, continue to be some +difficulty. #8 per head, say to Africa--#5 passage money, and #3 for +the journey across the country--is a large sum when a considerable +number are involved; and I am afraid no Colony would be reached at a +much lower rate. But I am not without hope that the Government might +assist us in this direction. + +Taking up the entire question, that is of the three Colonies, we are +satisfied that the sum named will suffice to set to work an agency +which will probably rescue from lives of degradation and immorality an +immense number of people, and that an income of something like #30,000 +will keep it afloat. But supposing that a much larger amount should be +required, by operations greatly in advance of those here spoken of, +which we think exceedingly probable, it is not unreasonable to expect +that it will be forthcoming, seeing that caring for the poor is not +only a duty of universal obligation, a root principle of all religion, +but an instinct of humanity not likely to be abolished in our time. +We are not opposed to charity as such, but to the mode of its +administration, which, instead of permanently relieving, only +demoralises and plunges the recipients lower in the mire, and so +defeats its own purpose. + +"What!" I think I hear some say, "a million sterling! how can any man +out of Bedlam dream of raising such a sum?" Stop a little! A million +may be a great deal to pay for a diamond or a palace, but it is a mere +trifle compared with the sums which Britain lavishes whenever Britons +are in need of deliverance if they happen to be imprisoned abroad. +The King of Ashantee had captive some British subjects--not even of +English birth--in 1869. John Bull despatched General Wolseley with +the pick of the British army, who smashed Koffee Kalkallee, liberated +the captives, and burnt Coomassie, and never winced when the bill came +in for #750,000. But that was a mere trifle. When King Theodore, +of Abyssinia, made captives of a couple of British representatives, +Lord Napier was despatched to rescue. He marched his army to Magdala, +brought back the prisoners, and left King Theodore dead. +The cost of that expedition was over nine millions sterling. +The Egyptian Campaign, that smashed Arabi, cost nearly five millions. +The rush to Khartoum, that arrived too late to rescue General Gordon, +cost at least as much. The Afghan war cost twenty-one millions +sterling. Who dares then to say that Britain cannot provide a million +sterling to rescue, not one or two captives, but a million, whose lot +is quite as doleful as that of the prisoners of savage kings, but who +are to be found, not in the land of the Soudan, or in the swamps of +Ashantee, or in the Mountains of the Moon, but here at our very doors? +Don't talk to me about the impossibility of raising the million. +Nothing is impossible when Britain is in earnest. All talk of +impossibility only means that you don't believe that the nation cares +to enter upon a serious campaign against the enemy at our gates. +When John Bull goes to the wars he does not count the cost. And who +dare deny that the time has fully come for a declaration of war against +the Social Evils which seem to shut out God from this our world? + + +SECTION 3.--SOME ADVANTAGES STATED. + +This Scheme takes into its embrace all kinds and classes of men who may +be in destitute circumstances, irrespective of their character or +conduct, and charges itself with supplying at once their temporal +needs; and then aims at placing them in a permanent position of +comparative comfort, the only stipulation made being a willingness to +work and to conform to discipline on the part of those receiving its +benefit. + +While at the commencement, we must impose some limits with respect to +age and sickness, we hope, when fairly at work, to be able to dispense +with even these restrictions, and to receive any unfortunate individual +who has only his misery to recommend him and an honest desire to get +out of it. + +It will be seen that, in this respect, the Scheme stands head and +shoulders above any plan that has ever been mooted before, seeing that +nearly all the other charitable and remedial proposals more or less +confess their utter inability to benefit any but what they term the +"decent" working man. + +This Scheme seeks out by all manner of agencies, marvellously adapted +for the task, the classes whose welfare it contemplates, and, by varied +measures and motives adapted to their circumstances, compels them to +accept its benefits. + +Our Plan contemplates nothing short of revolutionising the character of +those whose faults are the reason for their destitution. We have seen +that with fully fifty per cent. of these their own evil conduct is the +cause of their wretchedness. To stop short with them of anything less +than a real change of heart will be to invite and ensure failure. +But this we are confident of effecting--anyway, in the great majority +of cases, by reasonings and persuasions, concerning both earthly and +heavenly advantages, by the power of man, and by the power of God. + +By this Scheme any man, no matter how deeply he may have fallen in +self-respect and the esteem of all about him, may re-enter life afresh, +with the prospect of re-establishing his character when lost, +or perhaps of establishing a character for the first time, and so +obtaining an introduction to decent employment, and a claim for +admission into Society as a good citizen. While many of this crowd are +absolutely without a decent friend, others will have, on that higher +level of respectability they once occupied, some relative, or friend, +or employer, who occasionally thinks of them, and who, if only +satisfied that a real change has taken place in the prodigal, will not +only be willing, but delighted, to help them once more. + +By this Scheme, we believe we shall be able to teach habits of economy, +household management, thrift, and the like. There are numbers of men +who, although suffering the direst pangs of poverty, know little or +nothing about the value of money, or the prudent use of it; and there +are hundreds of poor women who do not know what a decently-managed home +is, and who could not make one if they had the most ample means and +tried ever so hard to accomplish it, having never seen anything but +dirt, disorder, and misery in their domestic history. They could not +cook a dinner or prepare a meal decently if their lives were dependent +on it, never having had a chance of learning how to do it. But by this +Scheme hope to teach these things. + +By this Plan, habits of cleanliness will be created, and some +knowledge of sanitary questions in general will be imparted. +This Scheme changes the circumstances of those whose poverty is caused +by their misfortune. To begin with, it finds work for the unemployed. +This is the chief need. The great problem that has for ages been +puzzling the brains of the political economist and philanthropist has +been "How can we find these people work?" No matter what other helps +are discovered, without work there is no real ground for hope. +Charity and all the other ten thousand devices are only temporary +expedients, altogether insufficient to meet the necessity. Work, apart +from the fact that it is God's method of supplying the wants of man's +composite nature, is an essential to his well-being in every way-- +and on this Plan there is work, honourable work--none of your +demoralising stone-breaking, or oakum-picking business, which +tantalises and insults poverty, Every worker will feel that he is not +only occupied for his own benefit, but that any advantage reaped over +and above that which he gains himself will serve to lift some other +poor wretch out of the gutter. + +There would be work within the capacity of all. Every gift could be +employed. For instance, take five persons on the Farm--a baker, +a tailor, a shoemaker, a cook, and an agriculturist. The baker would +make bread for all, the tailor garments for all, the shoemaker shoes +for all, the cook would cook for all, and the agriculturist dig for all. +Those who know anything which would be useful to the inhabitants of +the Colony will be set to do it, and those who are ignorant of any +trade or profession will be taught one. + +This Scheme removes the vicious and criminal classes out of the sphere +of those temptations before which they have invariably fallen in the +past. Our experience goes to show that when you have, by Divine grace, +or by any consideration of the advantages of a good life, or the +disadvantages of a bad one, produced in a man circumstanced as those +whom we have been describing, the resolution to turn over a new leaf, +the temptations and difficulties he has to encounter will ordinarily +master him, and undo all that has been done, if he still continues to +be surrounded by old companions and allurements to sin. + +Now, look at the force of the temptations this class has to fight +against. What is it that leads people to do wrong--people of all +classes, rich as well as poor? Not the desire to sin. They do not want +to sin; many of them do not know what sin is, but they have certain +appetites or natural likings, the indulgence of which is pleasant to +them, and when the desire for their unlawful gratification is aroused, +regardless of the claims of God, their own highest interests, or the +well-being of their fellows, they are carried away by them; and thus +all the good resolutions they have made in the past come to grief. + +For instance, take the temptation which comes through the natural +appetite, hunger. Here is a man who has been at a religious meeting, +or received some good advice, or, perhaps, just come out of prison, +with the memories of the hardships he has suffered fresh upon him, or +the advice of the chaplain ringing in his ears. He has made up his +mind to steal no more, but he has no means of earning a livelihood. +He becomes hungry. What is he to do? A loaf of bread tempts him, or, +more likely, a gold chain which he can turn into bread. An inward +struggle commences, he tries to stick to his bargain, but the hunger +goes on gnawing within, and it may be there is a wife and children +hungry as well as himself; so he yields to the temptation, takes the +chain, and in turn the policeman takes him. + +Now this man does not want to do wrong, and still less does he want to +go to prison. In a sincere, dreamy way he desires to be good, +and if the path were easier for him he would probably walk in it. + +Again, there is the appetite for drink. That man has no thought of +sinning when he takes his first glass. Much less does he want to get +drunk. He may have still a vivid recollection of the unpleasant +consequences that followed his last spree, but the craving is on him; +the public-house is there handy; his companions press him; he yields, +and falls, and, perhaps, falls to rise no more. + +We might amplify, but our Scheme proposes to take the poor slave right +away from the public-houses, the drink, and the companions that allure +him to it, and therefore we think the chances of reformation in him are +far greater. + +Then think of the great boon this Scheme will be to the children, +bringing them out of the slums, wretched hovels, and filthy surroundings +in which they are being reared for lives of abomination of every +description, into the fields, amongst the green trees and cottage homes, +where they can grow up with a chance of saving both body and soul. + +Think again of the change this Scheme will make for these poor +creatures from the depressing, demoralising surroundings, of the +unsightly, filthy quarters in which they are huddled together, to the +pure air and sights and sounds of the country. There is much talk +about the beneficial influence of pictures, music and literature upon +the multitudes. Money, like water, is being poured forth to supply +such attractions in Museums, People's Palaces, and the like, for the +edification and amelioration of the social condition of the masses. +But "God made the country, man made the town," and if we take the +people to the pictures of divine manufacture, that must be the superior +plan. + +Again, the Scheme is capable of illimitable application. The plaister +can be made as large as the wound. The wound is certainly a very +extensive one, and it seems at first sight almost ridiculous for any +private enterprise to attempt dealing with it. Three millions of +people, living in little short of perpetual misery have to be reached +and rescued out of this terrible condition. But it can be done, and +this Scheme will do it, if it is allowed a fair chance. Not all at +once? True! It will take time, but it will begin to tell on the +restering mass straight away. Within a measurable distance we ought +to be able to take out of this black sea at least a hundred individuals +a week, and there is no reason why this number should not go on +increasing. + +An appreciable impression on this gulf of misery would be immediately +made, not only for those who are rescued from its dark waters, +but for those who are left behind, seeing that for every hundred +individuals removed, there is just the additional work which they +performed for those who remain. It might not be much, but still it +would soon count up. Supposing three carpenters are starving on +employment which covered one-third of their time, if you take two away, +the one left will have full employment. But it will be for the public +to fix, by their contributions, the extent of our operations. + +The benefits bestowed by this Scheme will be permanent in duration. +It will be seen that this is no temporary expedient, such as, alas! +nearly every effort hitherto made on behalf of these classes has been. +Relief Works, Soup Kitchens, Enquiries into Character, Emigration +Schemes, of which none will avail themselves, Charity in its hundred +forms, Casual Wards, the Union, and a hundred other Nostrums may serve +for the hour, but they are only at the best palliations. But this +Scheme, I am bold to say, offers a substantial and permanent remedy. + +In relieving one section of the community, our plan involves no +interference with the well-being of any other. +(See Chapter VII. Section 4, "Objections.") + +This Scheme removes the all but insuperable barrier to an industrious +and godly life. It means not only the leading of these lost multitudes +out of the "City of Destruction" into the Canaan of plenty, but the +lifting of them up to the same level of advantage with the more +favoured of mankind for securing the salvation of their souls. + +Look at the circumstances of hundreds and thousands of the classes of +whom we are speaking. From the cradle to the grave, might not their +influence in the direction of Religious Belief be summarised in one +sentence, "Atheism made easy." Let my readers imagine theirs to have +been a similar lot. Is it not possible that, under such circumstances, +they might have entertained some serious doubts as to the existence of +a benevolent God who would thus allow His creatures to starve, or that +they would have been so preoccupied with their temporal miseries as to +have no heart for any concern about the next life? + +Take a man, hungry and cold, who does not know where his next meal is +coming from; nay, who thinks it problematical whether it will come at +all. We know his thoughts will be taken up entirely with the bread he +needs for his body. What he wants is a dinner. The interests of his +soul must wait. + +Take a woman with a starving family, who knows that as soon as Monday +comes round the rent must be paid, or else she and her children must +go into the street, and her little belongings be impounded. +At the present moment she is without it. Are not her thoughts likely +to wander in that direction if she slips into a Church or Mission Hall, +or Salvation Army Barracks? + +I have had some experience on this subject, and have been making +observations with respect to it ever since the day I made my first +attempt to reach these starving, hungry, crowds--just over forty-five +years ago--and I am quite satisfied that these multitudes will not be +saved in their present circumstances. All the Clergymen. +Home Missionaries, Tract Distributors, Sick Visitors, and everyone else +who care about the Salvation of the poor, may make up their minds as to +that. If these people are to believe in Jesus Christ, become the +Servants of God, and escape the miseries of the wrath to come, they +must be helped out of their present social miseries. They must be put +into a position in which they can work and eat, and have a decent room +to live and sleep in, and see something before them besides a long, +weary, monotonous, grinding round of toil, and anxious care to keep +themselves and those they love barely alive, with nothing at the +further end but the Hospital, the Union, or the Madhouse. If Christian +Workers and Philanthropists will join hands to effect this change it +will be accomplished, and the people will rise up and bless them, and +be saved; if they will not, the people will curse them and perish. + + +SECTION 4.--SOME OBJECTIONS MET. + +Objections must be expected. They are a necessity with regard to any +Scheme that has not yet been reduced to practice, and simply signify +foreseen difficulties in the working of it. We freely admit that there +are abundance of difficulties in the way of working out the plan +smoothly and successfully that has been laid down. But many of these +we imagine will vanish when we come to close quarters, and the +remainder will be surmounted by courage and patience. Should, however, +this plan prove the success we predict, it must eventually +revolutionise the condition of the starving sections of Society, +not only in this great metropolis, but throughout the whole range of +civilisation. It must therefore be worthy not only of a careful +consideration but of persevering trial. + +Some of these difficulties at first sight appear rather serious. +Let us look at them. + +Objection I.--It is suggested that the class of people for whose +benefit the Scheme is designed would not avail themselves of it. + +When the feast was prepared and the invitation had gone forth, +it is said that the starving multitudes would not come; that though +labour was offered them in the City, or prepared for them on the Farm, +they would prefer to rot in their present miseries rather than avail +themselves of the benefit provided. + +In order to gather the opinions of those most concerned, we consulted +one evening, by a Census in our London Shelters, two hundred and fifty +men out of work, and all suffering severely in consequence. +We furnished a set of questions, and obtained answers from the whole. +Now, it must be borne in mind that these men were under no obligation +whatever to make any reply to our enquiries, much less to answer them +favourably to our plan, of which they knew next to nothing. + +These two hundred and fifty men were mostly in the prime of life, +the greater portion of them being skilled workmen; an examination of +the return papers showing that out of the entire number two hundred and +seven were able to work at their trades had they the opportunity. + +The number of trades naturally varied. There were some of all kinds: +Engineers, Custom House Officers, Schoolmasters, Watch and Clockmakers, +Sailors, and men of the different branches of the Building trade; +also a number of men who have been in business on their own account. + +The average amount of wages earned by the skilled mechanics when +regularly employed was 33s. per week; the money earned by the +unskilled averaged 22s. per week. + +They could not be accounted lazy, as most of them; when not employed +at their own trade or occupation, had proved their willingness to work +by getting jobs at anything that turned up. On looking over the list +we saw that one who had been a Custom House Officer had recently acted +as Carpenter's Labourer; a Type-founder had been glad to work at +Chimney Sweeping; the Schoolmaster, able to speak five languages, who +in his prosperous days had owned a farm, was glad to do odd jobs as a +Bricklayer's Labourer; a Gentleman's Valet, who once earned #5 a week, +had come so low down in the world that he was glad to act as Sandwich +man for the magnificent sum of fourteenpence a day, and that, only as +an occasional affair. + +In the list was a dyer and cleaner, married, with a wife and nine +children, who had been able to earn 40s. a week, but had done no +regular work for three years out of the last ten. + +We put the following question to the entire number: -- "If you were put +on a farm, and set to work at anything you could do, and supplied with +food, lodging, and clothing, with a view to getting you on to your +feet, would you be willing to do all you could?" + +In response, the whole 250 replied in the affirmative, with one +exception, and on enquiry we elicited that, being a sailor, the man was +afraid he would not know how to do the work. + +On being interrogated as to their willingness to grapple with the hard +labour on the land, they said: "Why should we not? Look at us. +Can any plight be more miserable than ours?" Why not, indeed? +A glance at them would certainly make it impossible for any thoughtful +person to assign a rational reason for their refusal--in rags, +swarming with vermin, hungry, many of them living on scraps of food, +begged or earned in the most haphazard fashion, without sufficient +clothing to cover their poor gaunt limbs, most of them without a shirt. +They had to start out the next morning, uncertain which way to turn to +earn a crust for dinner, or the fourpence necessary to supply them +again with the humble shelter they had enjoyed that night. The idea of +their refusing employment which would supply abundantly the necessaries +of life, and give the prospect of becoming, in process of time, +the owner of a home, with its comforts and companionships, is beyond +conception. There is not much question that this class will not only +accept the Scheme we want to set before them, but gratefully do all in +their power to make it a success. + +II.--Too many would come. This would be very probable. +There would certainly be too many apply. But we should be under no +obligation to take more than was convenient. The larger the number of +applications the wider the field for selection, and the greater the +necessity for the enlargement of our operations. + +III.--They would run away. It is further objected that if they did +come, the monotony of the life, the strangeness of the work, together +with the absence of the excitements and amusements with which they had +been entertained in the cities and towns, would render their existence +unbearable. Even when left to the streets, there is an amount of life +and action in the city which is very attractive. Doubtless some would +run away, but I don't think this would be a large proportion. +The change would be so great, and so palpably advantageous, that I +think they would find in it ample compensation for the deprivation of +any little pleasureable excitement they had left behind them in the +city. For instance, there would be-- + + A Sufficiency of Food. + + The friendliness and sympathy of their new associates. There would + be abundance of companions of similar tastes and circumstances-- + not all pious. It would be quite another matter to going + single-handed on to a farm, or into a melancholy family. + + Then there would be the prospect of doing well for themselves in + the future, together with all the religious life, meetings, music, + and freedom of the Salvation Army. + +But what says our experience? + +If there be one class which is the despair of the social reformer, +it is that which is variously described, but which we may term the lost +women of our streets. From the point of view of the industrial +organiser, they suffer from almost every fault that human material can +possess. They are, with some exceptions, untrained to labour, +demoralised by a life of debauchery, accustomed to the wildest license, +emancipated from all discipline but that of starvation, given to drink, +and, for the most part, impaired in health. If, therefore, +any considerable number of this class can be shown to be ready to +submit themselves voluntarily to discipline, to endure deprivation of +drink, and to apply themselves steadily to industry, then example will +go a long way towards proving that even the worst description of +humanity, when intelligently, thoroughly handled, is amenable to +discipline and willing to work. In our British Rescue Homes we receive +considerably over a thousand unfortunates every year; while all over +the world, our annual average is two thousand. The work has been in +progress for three years--long enough to enable us to test very fully +the capacity of the class in question to reform. + +With us there is no compulsion. If any girl wishes to remain, she +remains. If she wishes to go, she goes. No one is detained a day or +an hour longer than they choose to stay. Yet our experience shows +that, as a rule, they do not run away. Much more restless and +thoughtless and given to change, as a class, than men, the girls do +not, in any considerable numbers, desert. The average of our London +Homes, for the last three years, gives only 14 per cent. as leaving on +their own account, while for the year 1889 only 5 per cent. And the +entire number, who have either left or been dismissed during that year, +amounts only to 13 per cent. on the whole. + +IV.--They would not work. +Of course, to such as had for years been leading idle lives, anything +like work and exhaustive labour would be very trying and wearisome, +and a little patience and coaxing might be required to get them into +the way of it. Perhaps some would be hopelessly beyond salvation in +this respect, and, until the time comes, if it ever does arrive, +when the Government will make it a crime for an abled-bodied man to beg +when there is an opportunity for him to engage in remunerative work, +this class will wander abroad preying upon a generous public. It will, +however, only need to be known that any man can obtain work if he wants +it, for those who have by their liberality maintained men and women in +idleness to cease doing so. And when it comes to this pass, that a man +cannot eat without working, of the two evils he will choose the latter, +preferring labour, however unpleasant it may be to his tastes, to +actual starvation. + +It must be borne in mind that the penalty of certain expulsion, which +all would be given to understand would be strictly enforced would have +a good influence in inducing the idlest to give work a fair trial, +and once at it should not despair of conquering the aversion +altogether, and eventually being able to transform and pass these once +lazy loafers as real industrious members of Society. + +Again, any who have fears on this point may be encouraged by +contrasting the varied and ever-changing methods of labour we should +pursue, with the monotonous and uninteresting grind of many of the +ordinary employments of the poor, and the circumstances by which they +are surrounded. + +Here, again, we fall back upon our actual experience in reclamation +work. In our Homes for Saving the Lost Women we have no difficulty of +getting them to work. The idleness of this section of the social +strata has been before referred to; it is not for a moment denied, +and there can be no question, as to its being the cause of much of +their poverty and distress. But from early morn until the lights are +out at night, all is a round of busy, and, to a great extent, very +uninteresting labour; while the girls have, as a human inducement, +only domestic service to look forward to--of which they are in no way +particularly enamoured--and yet here is no mutiny, no objection, +no unwillingness to work; in fact they appear well pleased to be kept +continually at it. Here is a report that teaches the same lesson. + +A small Bookbinding Factory is worked in connection with the Rescue +Homes in London. The folders and stitchers are girls saved from the +streets, but who, for various reasons, were found unsuitable for +domestic service. The Factory has solved the problem of employment for +some of the most difficult cases. Two of the girls at present employed +there are crippled, while one is supporting herself and two young +children. + +While learning the work they live in the Rescue Homes, and the few +shillings they are able to earn are paid into the Home funds. +As soon as they are able to earn 12s. a week, a lodging is found for +them (with Salvationists, if possible), and they are placed entirely +upon their own resources. The majority of girls working at this trade +in London are living in the family, and 6s., 7s., and 8s. a week make +an acceptable addition to the Home income; but our girls who are +entirely dependent upon their own earnings must make an average wage of +12s. a week at least. In order that they may do this we are obliged to +pay higher wages than other employers. For instance, we give from +2 1/2d. to 3d. a thousand more than the trade for binding small +pamphlets; nevertheless, after the Manager, a married man, is paid, and +a man for the superintendence of the machines, a profit of about #500 +has been made, and the work is improving. They are all paid piecework. + +Eighteen women are supporting themselves in this way at present, and +conducting themselves most admirably. One of their number acts as +forewoman, and conducts the Prayer Meeting at 12.30, the Two-minutes' +Prayer after meals, etc. Their continuance in the factory is subject +to their good behaviour--both at home as well as at work. +In one instance only have we had any trouble at all, and in this +solitary case the girl was so penitent she was forgiven, and has done +well ever since. I think that, without exception, they are Salvation +Soldiers, and will be found at nearly every meeting on the Sabbath, +etc. The binding of Salvation Army publications-- "The Deliverer," +"All the World," the Penny Song Books, etc., almost keep us going. +A little outside work for the end of the months is taken, but we are +not able to make any profit generally, it is so badly paid. + +It will be seen that this is a miniature factory, but still it is a +factory, and worked on principles that will admit of illimitable +extension, and may, I think, be justly regarded as an encouragement and +an exemplification of what may be accomplished in endless variations. + +V.--Again, it is objected that the class whose benefit we +contemplate would not have physical ability to work on a farm, or in +the open air. + +How, it is asked, would tailors, clerks, weavers, seamstresses, +and the destitute people, born and reared in the slums and +poverty-hovels of the towns and cities, do farm or any other work that +has to do with the land? The employment in the open air, with exposure +to every kind of weather which accompanies it, would, it is said, kill +them off right away. + +We reply, that the division of labour before described would render it +as unnecessary as it would be undesirable and uneconomical, to put many +of these people to dig or to plant. Neither is it any part of our plan +to do so. On our Scheme we have shown how each one would be appointed +to that kind of work for which his previous knowledge and experience +and strength best adapted him. Moreover, there can be no possible +comparison between the conditions of health enjoyed by men and women +wandering about homeless, sleeping in the streets or in the +fever-haunted lodging-houses, or living huddled up in a single room, +and toiling twelve and fourteen hours in a sweater's den, and living in +comparative comfort in well-warmed and ventilated houses, situated in +the open country, with abundance of good, healthy food. + +Take a man or a woman out into the fresh air, give them proper +exercise, and substantial food. Supply them with a comfortable home, +cheerful companions, and a fair prospect of reaching a position of +independence in this or some other land, and a complete renewal of +health and careful increase of vigour will, we expect, be one of the +first great benefits that will ensue. + +VI.--It is objected that we should be left with a considerable +residuum of half-witted, helpless people. + +Doubtless this would be a real difficulty, and we should have to +prepare for it. We certainly, at the outset, should have to guard +against too many of this class being left upon our hands, although we +should not be compelled to keep anyone. It would, how ever, be painful +to have to send them back to the dreadful life from which we had +rescued them. Still, however, this would not be so ruinous a risk, +looked at financially, as some would imagine. We could, we think, +maintain them for 4s. per week, and they would be very weak indeed in +body, and very wanting in mental, strength if they were not able to +earn that amount in some one of the many forms of employment which the +Colony would open up. + +VII.--Again, it will be objected that some efforts of a similar +character have failed. For instance, co-operative enterprises in +farming have not succeeded. + +True, but so far as I can ascertain, nothing of the character I am +describing has ever been attempted. A large number of Socialistic +communities have been established and come to grief in the United +States, in Germany, and elsewhere, but they have all, both in principle +and practice, strikingly differed from what we are proposing here: +Take one particular alone, the great bulk of these societies have not +only been fashioned without any regard to the principles of +Christianity, but, in the vast majority of instances, have been in +direct opposition to them; and the only communities based on +co-operative principles that have survived the first few months of +their existence have been based upon Christian truth. If not absolute +successes, there have been some very remarkable results obtained by +efforts partaking somewhat of the nature of the one I am setting forth. +(See that of Ralahine, described in Appendix.) + +VIII.--It is further objected that it would be impossible to maintain +order and enforce good discipline amongst this class of people. + +We are of just the opposite opinion. We think that it would --nay, +we are certain of it, and we speak as those who have had considerable +experience in dealing with the lower classes of Society. +We have already dealt with this difficulty. We may say further-- + +That we do not propose to commence with a thousand people in a wild, +untamed state, either at home or abroad. To the Colony Over-Sea we +should send none but those who have had a long period of training in +this country. The bulk of those sent to the Provincial Farm would have +had some sort of trial in the different City Establishments. We should +only draft them on to the Estate in small numbers, as we were prepared +to deal with them, and I am quite satisfied that without the legal +methods of maintaining order that are acted upon so freely in +workhouses and other similar institutions, we should have as perfect +obedience to Law, as great respect for authority, and as strong a +spirit of kindness pervading all ranks throughout the whole of the +community as could be found in any other institution in the land. + +It will be borne in mind that our Army system of government largely +prepares us, if it does not qualify us, for this task. Anyway, it +gives us a good start. All our people are trained in habits of +obedience, and all our Officers are educated in the exercise of +authority. The Officers throughout the Colony would be almost +exclusively recruited from the ranks of the Army, and everyone of them +would go to the work, both theoretically and practically, familiar with +those principles which are the essence of good discipline. + +Then we can argue, and that very forcibly, from the actual experience +we have already had in dealing with this class. Take our experience in +the Army itself. Look at the order of our Soldiers. Here are men and +women, who have no temporal interest whatever at stake, receiving no +remuneration, often sacrificing their earthly interests by their union +with us, and yet see how they fall into line, and obey orders in the +promptest manner, even when such orders go right in the teeth of their +temporal interests. + +"Yes," it will be replied by some, "this is all very excellent so far +as it relates to those who are altogether of your own way of thinking. +You can command them as you please, and they will obey, but what proof +have you given of your ability to control and discipline those who are +not of your way of thinking? + +"You can do that with your Salvationists because they are saved, as you +call it. When men are born again you can do anything with them. +But unless you convert all the denizens of Darkest England, what chance +is there that they will be docile to your discipline? If they were +soundly saved no doubt something might be done. But they are not +saved, soundly or otherwise; they are lost. What reason have you for +believing that they will be amenable to discipline?" + +I admit the force of this objection; but I have an answer, and an +answer which seems to me complete. Discipline, and that of the most +merciless description, is enforced upon multitudes of these people even +now. Nothing that the most authoritative organisation of industry +could devise in the excess of absolute power, could for a moment +compare with the slavery enforced to-day in the dens of the sweater. +It is not a choice between liberty and discipline that confronts these +unfortunates, but between discipline mercilessly enforced by starvation +and inspired by futile greed, and discipline accompanied with regular +rations and administered solely for their own benefit. What liberty is +there for the tailors who have to sew for sixteen to twenty hours a +day, in a pest-hole, in order to earn ten shillings a week? +There is no discipline so brutal as that of the sweater; there is no +slavery so relentless as that from which we seek to deliver the +victims. Compared with their normal condition of existence, the most +rigorous discipline which would be needed to secure the complete +success of any new individual organisation would be an escape from +slavery into freedom. + +You may reply, "that it might be so, if people understood their own +interest. But as a matter of fact they do not understand it, and that +they will never have sufficient far-sightedness to appreciate the +advantages that are offered them." + +To this I answer, that here also I do not speak from theory. +I lay before you the ascertained results of years of experience. +More than two years ago, moved by the misery and despair of the +unemployed, I opened the Food and Shelter Depots in London already +described. Here are a large number of men every night, many of them of +the lowest type of casuals who crawl about the streets, a certain +proportion criminals, and about as difficult a class to manage as I +should think could be got together, and while there will be 200 of them +in a single building night after night, from the first opening of the +doors in the evening until the last man has departed in the morning, +there shall scarcely be a word of dissatisfaction; anyway, nothing in +the shape of angry temper or bad language. No policemen are required; +indeed two or three nights' experience will be sufficient to turn the +regular frequenters of the place of their own free will into Officers +of Order, glad not only to keep the regulations of the place, but to +enforce its discipline upon others. + +Again, every Colonist, whether in the City or elsewhere, would know +that those who took the interests of the Colony to heart, were loyal to +its authority and principles, and laboured industriously in promoting +its interests, would be rewarded accordingly by promotion to positions +of influence and authority, which would also carry with them temporal +advantages, present and prospective. + +But one of our main hopes would be in the apprehension by the Colonists +of the fact that all our efforts were put forth on their behalf. +Every man and woman on the place would know that this enterprise was +begun and carried on solely for their benefit, and that of the other +members of their class, and that only their own good behaviour and +co-operation would ensure their reaping a personal share in such +benefit. Still our expectations would be largely based on the creation +of a spirit of unselfish interest in the community. + +IX. Again, it is objected that the Scheme is too vast to be attempted +by voluntary enterprise; it ought to be taken up and carried out by the +Government itself. + +Perhaps so, but there is no very near probability of Government +undertaking it, and we are not quite sure whether such an attempt would +prove a success if it were made. But seeing that neither Governments, +nor Society, nor individuals have stood forward to undertake what God +has made appear to us to be so vitally important a work, and as He has +given us the willingness, and in many important senses the ability, +we are prepared, if the financial help is furnished, to make a +determined effort, not only to undertake but to carry it forward to a +triumphant success. + +X.--It is objected that the classes we seek to benefit are too +ignorant and depraved for Christian effort, or for effort of any kind, +to reach and reform.-- + +Look at the tramps, the drunkards, the harlots, the criminals. +How confirmed they are in their idle and vicious habits. It will be +said, indeed has been already said by those with whom I have conversed, +that I don't know them; which statement cannot, I think, be maintained, +for if I don't know them, who does? + +I admit, however, that thousands of this class are very far gone from +every sentiment, principle and practice of right conduct. But I argue +that these poor people cannot be much more unfavourable subjects for +the work of regeneration than are many of the savages and heathen +tribes, in the conversion of whom Christians universally believe; +for whom they beg large sums of money, and to whom they send their best +and bravest people. + +These poor people are certainly embraced in the Divine plan of mercy. +To their class, the Saviour especially gave His attention when he was +on the earth, and for them He most certainly died on the Cross. + +Some of the best examples of Christian faith and practice, and some of +the most successful workers for the benefit of mankind, have sprung +from this class, of which we have instances recorded in the Bible, +and any number in the history of the Church and of the Salvation Army. + +It may be objected that while this Scheme would undoubtedly assist one +class of the community by making steady, industrious workmen, it must +thereby injure another class by introducing so many new hands into the +labour market, already so seriously overstocked. + +To this we reply that there is certainly an appearance of force in this +objection; but it has, I think, been already answered in the foregoing +pages. Further, if the increase of workers, which this Scheme will +certainly bring about, was the beginning and the end of it, it would +certainly present a somewhat serious aspect. But, even on that +supposition, I don't see how the skilled worker could leave his +brothers to rot in their present wretchedness, though their rescue +should involve the sharing of a portion of his wages. + +(1) But there is no such danger, seeing that the number of extra + hands thrown on the British Labour Market must be necessarily + inconsiderable. + +(2) The increased production of food in our Farm and Colonial + operations must indirectly benefit the working man. + +(3) The taking out of the labour market of a large number of + individuals who at present have only partial work, while benefiting + them, must of necessity afford increased labour to those left + behind. + +(4) While every poor workless individual made into a wage earner will + of necessity have increased requirements in proportion. + For instance, the drunkard who has had to manage with a few bricks, + a soap box, and a bundle of rags, will want a chair, a table, + a bed, and at least the other necessary adjuncts to a furnished home, + however sparely fitted up it may be. + +There is no question but that when our Colonisation Scheme is fairly +afloat it will drain off, not only many of those who are in the morass, +but a large number who are on the verge of it. Nay, even artisans, +earning what are considered good wages, will be drawn by the desire to +improve their circumstances, or to raise their children under more +favourable surroundings, or from still nobler motives, to leave the old +country. Then it is expected that the agricultural labourer and the +village artisan, who are ever migrating to the great towns and cities, +will give the preference to the Colony Over-Sea, and so prevent that +accumulation of cheap labour which is considered to interfere so +materially with the maintenance of a high wages standard. + + +SECTION 5. RECAPITULATION. + +I have now passed in review the leading features of the Scheme, which I +put forward as one that is calculated to considerably contribute to the +amelioration of the condition of the lowest stratum of our Society. +It in no way professes to be complete in all its details. +Anyone may at any point lay his finger on this, that, or the other +feature of the Scheme, and show some void that must be filled in if it +is to work with effect. There is one thing, however, that can be +safely said in excuse for the short comings of the Scheme, and that is +that if you wait until you get an ideally perfect plan you will have to +wait until the Millennium, and then you will not need it. +My suggestions, crude though they may be, have, nevertheless, one +element that will in time supply all deficiencies. There is life in +them, with life there is the promise and power of adaptation to all the +innumerable and varying circumstances of the class with which we have +to deal. Where there is life there is infinite power of adjustment. +This is no cast-iron Scheme, forged in a single brain and then set up +as a standard to which all must conform. It is a sturdy plant, +which has its roots deep down in the nature and circumstances of men. +Nay, I believe in the very heart of God Himself. It has already grown +much, and will, if duly nurtured and tended, grow still further, until +from it, as from the grain of mustard-seed in the parable, there shall +spring up a great tree whose branches shall overshadow all the earth. + +Once more let me say, I claim no patent rights in any part of this +Scheme. Indeed, I do not know what in it is original and what is not. +Since formulating some of the plans, which I had thought were new under +the sun, I have discovered that they have been already tried in +different parts of the world, and that with great promise. It may be +so with others, and in this I rejoice. I plead for no exclusiveness. +The question is much too serious for such fooling as that. Here are +millions of our fellow-creatures perishing amidst the breakers of the +sea of life, dashed to pieces on sharp rocks, sucked under by eddying +whirlpools, suffocated even when they think they have reached land by +treacherous quicksands; to save them from this imminent destruction I +suggest that these things should be done. If you have any better plan +than mine for effecting this purpose, in God's name bring it to the +light and get it carried out quickly. If you have not, then lend me a +hand with mine, as I would be only too glad to lend you a hand with +yours if it had in it greater promise of successful action than mine. + +In a Scheme for the working out of social salvation the great, +the only, test that is worth anything is the success with which they +attain the object for which they are devised. An ugly old tub of a +boat that will land a shipwrecked sailor safe on the beach is worth +more to him than the finest yacht that ever left a slip-way incapable +of effecting the same object. The superfine votaries of culture may +recoil in disgust from the rough-and-ready suggestions which I have +made for dealing with the Sunken Tenth, but mere recoiling is no +solution. If the cultured and the respectable and the orthodox and the +established dignitaries and conventionalities of Society pass by on the +other side we cannot follow their example. + +We may not be priests and Levites, but we can at least play the part of +the Good Samaritan. The man who went down to Jericho and fell among +thieves was probably a very improvident, reckless individual, who ought +to have known better than to go roaming alone through defiles haunted +by banditti, whom he even led into temptation by the careless way in +which he exposed himself and his goods to their avaricious gaze. +It was, no doubt, largely his own fault that he lay there bruised and +senseless, and ready to perish, just as it is largely the fault of +those whom we seek to help that they lie in the helpless plight in +which we find them. But for all that, let us bind up their wounds with +such balm as we can procure, and, setting them on our ass, let us take +them to our Colony, where they may have time to recover, and once more +set forth on the journey of life. + +And now, having said this much by way of reply to some of my critics, +I will recapitulate the salient features of the Scheme. I laid down at +the beginning certain points to be kept in view as embodying those +invariable laws or principles of political economy, without due regard +to which no Scheme can hope for even a chance of success. +Subject to these conditions, I think my Scheme will pass muster. +It is large enough to cope with the evils that will confront us; +it is practicable, for it is already in course of application, and it +is capable of indefinite expansion. But it would be better to pass the +whole Scheme in its more salient features in review once more. + +The Scheme will seek to convey benefit to the destitute classes in +various ways altogether apart from their entering the Colonies. +Men and women maybe very poor and in very great sorrow, nay, on the +verge of actual starvation, and yet be so circumstanced as to be unable +to enrol themselves in the Colonial ranks. To these our cheap Food +Depots, our Advice Bureau, Labour Shops, and other agencies will prove +an unspeakable boon, and will be likely by such temporary assistance to +help them out of the deep gulf in which they are struggling. +Those who need permanent assistance will be passed on to the City +Colony, and taken directly under our control. Here they will be +employed as before described. Many will be sent off to friends; +work will be found for others in the City or elsewhere, while the great +bulk, after reasonable testing as to their sincerity and willingness to +assist in their own salvation, will be sent on to the Farm Colonies, +where the same process of reformation and training will be continued, +and unless employment is otherwise obtained they will then be passed on +to the Over-Sea Colony. + +All in circumstances of destitution, vice, or criminality will receive +casual assistance or be taken into the Colony, on the sole conditions +of their being anxious for deliverance, and willing to work for it, +and to conform to discipline, altogether irrespective of character, +ability, religious opinions, or anything else. + +No benefit will be conferred upon any individual except under +extraordinary circumstances, without some return being made in labour. +Even where relatives and friends supply money to the Colonists, +the latter must take their share of work with their comrades. +We shall not have room for a single idler throughout all our borders. + +The labour allotted to each individual will be chosen in view of his +past employment or ability. Those who have any knowledge of +agriculture will naturally be put to work on the land; the shoemaker +will make shoes, the weaver cloth, and so on. And when there is no +knowledge of any handicraft, the aptitude of the individual and the +necessities of the hour will suggest the sort of work it would be most +profitable for such an one to learn. + +Work of all descriptions will be executed as far as possible by hand +labour. The present rage for machinery has tended to produce much +destitution by supplanting hand labour so exclusively that the rush has +been from the human to the machine. We want, as far as is practicable, +to travel back from the machine to the human. + +Each member of the Colony would receive food, clothing, lodging, +medicine, and all necessary care in case of sickness. + +No wages would be paid, except a trifle by way of encouragement for +good behaviour and industry, or to those occupying positions of trust, +part of which will be saved in view of exigencies in our Colonial Bank, +and the remainder used for pocket money. + +The whole Scheme of the three Colonies will for all practical purposes +be regarded as one; hence the training will have in view the +qualification of the Colonists for ultimately earning their livelihood +in the world altogether independently of our assistance, or, failing +this, fit them for taking some permanent work within our borders either +at home or abroad. + +Another result of this unity of the Town and Country Colonies will be +the removal of one of the difficulties ever connected with the disposal +of the products of unemployed labour. The food from the Farm would be +consumed by the City, while many of the things manufactured in the City +would be consumed on the Farm. + +The continued effort of all concerned in the reformation of these +people will be to inspire and cultivate those habits, the want of which +has been so largely the cause of the destitution and vice of the past. + +Strict discipline, involving careful and continuous oversight, would be +necessary to the maintenance of order amongst so large a number of +people, many of whom had hitherto lived a wild and licentious life. +Our chief reliance in this respect would be upon the spirit of mutual +interest that would prevail. + +The entire Colony would probably be divided into sections, each under +the supervision of a sergeant--one of themselves--working side by +side with them, yet responsible for the behaviour of all. + +The chief Officers of the Colony would be individuals who had given +themselves to the work, not for a livelihood, but from a desire to be +useful to the suffering poor. They would be selected at the outset +from the Army, and that on the ground of their possessing certain +capabilities for the position, such as knowledge of the particular kind +of work they had to superintend, or their being good disciplinarians +and having the faculty for controlling men and being themselves +influenced by a spirit of love. Ultimately the Officers, we have no +doubt, would be, as is the case in all our other operations, men and +women raised up from the Colonists themselves, and who will +consequently, possess some special qualifications for dealing with +those they have to superintend. The Colonists will be divided into two +classes: the 1st, the class which receives no wages will consist of: -- + +(a) The new arrivals, whose ability, character, and habits are as yet + unknown. +(b) The less capable in strength, mental calibre, or other capacity. +(c) The indolent, and those whose conduct and character appeared + doubtful. These would remain in this class, until sufficiently + improved for advancement, or are pronounced so hopeless as to + justify expulsion. + +The 2nd class would have a small extra allowance, a part of which would +be given to the workers for private use, and a part reserved for future +contingencies, the payment of travelling expenses, etc. +From this class we should obtain our petty officers, send out hired +labourers, emigrants, etc., etc. + +Such is the Scheme as I have conceived it. Intelligently applied, and +resolutely persevered in, I cannot doubt that it will produce a great +and salutary change in the condition of many of the most hopeless of +our fellow countrymen. Nor is it only our fellow countrymen to whom it +is capable of application. In its salient features, with such +alterations as are necessary, owing to differences of climate and of +race, it is capable of adoption in every city in the world, for it is +an attempt to restore to the masses of humanity that are crowded +together in cities, the human and natural elements of life which they +possessed when they lived in the smaller unit of the village or the +market town. Of the extent of the need there can be no question. +It is, perhaps, greatest in London, where the masses of population are +denser than those of any other city; but it exists equally in the chief +centres of population in the new Englands that have sprung up beyond +the sea, as well as in the larger cities of Europe. It is a remarkable +fact that up to the present moment the most eager welcome that has been +extended to this Scheme reaches us from Melbourne, where our officers +have been compelled to begin operations by the pressure of public +opinion and in compliance with the urgent entreaties of the Government +on one side and the leaders of the working classes on the other before +the plan had been elaborated, or instructions could be sent out for +their guidance. + +It is rather strange to hear of distress reaching starvation point in a +city like Melbourne, the capital of a great new country which teems +with natural wealth of every kind. But Melbourne, too, has its +unemployed, and in no city in the Empire have we been more successful +in dealing with the social problem than in the capital of Victoria. +The Australian papers for some weeks back have been filled with reports +of the dealings of the Salvation Army with the unemployed of Melbourne. +This was before the great Strike. The Government of Victoria +practically threw upon our officers the task of dealing with the +unemployed. The subject was debated in the House of Assembly, +and at the close of the debate a subscription was taken up by one of +those who had been our most strenuous opponents, and a sum of #400 +was handed over to our officers to dispense in keeping the starving +from perishing. Our people have found situations for no fewer than +1,776 persons, and are dispensing meals at the rate of 700 a day. +The Government of Victoria has long been taking the lead in recognising +the secular uses of the Salvation Army. The following letter addressed +by the Minister of the Interior to the Officer charged with the +oversight of this part of our operations, indicates the estimation in +which we are held: -- + +Government of Victoria, Chief Secretary's Office, +Melbourne. + +July 4th, 1889. + +Superintendent Salvation Army Rescue Work. + +Sir,--in compliance with your request for a letter of introduction +which may be of use to you in England, I have much pleasure in stating +from reports furnished by Officers of my Department, I am convinced +that the work you have been engaged on during the past six years has +been of material advantage to the community. You have rescued from +crime some who, but for the counsel and assistance rendered them, might +have been a permanent tax upon the State, and you have restrained from +further criminal courses others who had already suffered legal +punishment for their misdeeds. It has given me pleasure to obtain from +the Executive Council authority for you to apprehend children found in +Brothels, and to take charge of such children after formal committal. +Of the great value of this branch of your work there can be no +question. It is evident that the attendance of yourself and your +Officers at the police-courts and lock-ups has been attended with +beneficial results, and your invitation to our largest jails has been +highly approved by the head of the Department. Generally speaking, +I may say that your policy and procedure have been commended by the +Chief Officers of the Government of this Colony, who have observed your +work. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, + +(Signed) ALFRED DEAKIN. + +The Victorian Parliament has voted an annual grant to our funds, +not as a religious endowment, but in recognition of the service which +we render in the reclamation of criminals, and what may be called, +if I may use a word which has been so depraved by Continental abuse, +the moral police of the city. Our Officer in Melbourne has an official +position which opens to him almost every State institution and all the +haunts of vice where it may be necessary for him to make his way in the +search for girls that have been decoyed from home or who have fallen +into evil courses. + +It is in Victoria also that a system prevails of handing over first +offenders to the care of the Salvation Army Officers, placing them in +recognizance to come up when called for. An Officer of the Army +attends at every Police Court, and the Prison Brigade is always on +guard at the gaol doors when the prisoners are discharged. +Our Officers also have free access to the prisons, where they can +conduct services and labour with the inmates for their Salvation. +As Victoria is probably the most democratic of our colonies, and the +one in which the working-class has supreme control, the extent to which +it has by its government recognised the value of our operations is +sufficient to indicate that we have nothing to fear from the opposition +of the democracy. In the neighbouring colony of New South Wales a lady +has already given us a farm of three hundred acres fully stocked, +on which to begin operations with a Farm Colony, and there seems some +prospect that the Scheme will get itself into active shape at the other +end of the world before it is set agoing in London. The eager welcome +which has thus forced the initiative upon our Officers in Melbourne +tends to encourage the expectation that the Scheme will be regarded as +no quack application, but will be generally taken up and quickly set in +operation all round the world. + + +CHAPTER 8. A PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. + +Throughout this book I have more constantly used the first personal +pronoun than ever before in anything I have written. I have done this +deliberately, not from egotism, but in order to make it more clearly +manifest that here is a definite proposal made by an individual who is +prepared, if the means are furnished him, to carry it out. At the same +time I want it to be clearly understood that it is not in my own +strength, nor at my own charge, that I purpose to embark upon this +great undertaking. Unless God wills that I should work out the idea of +which I believe He has given me the conception, nothing can come of any +attempt at its execution but confusion, disaster, and disappointment. +But if it be His will--and whether it is or not, visible and manifest +tokens will soon be forthcoming--who is there that can stand against it? +Trusting in Him for guidance, encouragement, and support, I propose at +once to enter upon this formidable campaign. + +I do not run without being called. I do not press forward to fill this +breach without being urgently pushed from behind. Whether or not, +I am called of God, as well as by the agonising cries of suffering men +and women and children, He will make plain to me, and to us all; +for as Gideon looked for a sign before he, at the bidding of the +heavenly messenger, undertook the leading of the chosen people against +the hosts of Midian, even so do I look for a sign. Gideon's sign was +arbitrary. He selected it. He dictated his own terms; and out of +compassion for his halting faith, a sign was given to him, and that +twice over. First, his fleece was dry when all the country round was +drenched with dew; and, secondly, his fleece was drenched with dew when +all the country round was dry. + +The sign for which I ask to embolden me to go forwards is single, +not double. It is necessary and not arbitrary, and it is one which the +veriest sceptic or the most cynical materialist will recognise as +sufficient. If I am to work out the Scheme I have outlined in this +book, I must have ample means for doing so. How much would be required +to establish this Plan of Campaign in all its fulness, overshadowing +all the land with its branches laden with all manner of pleasant fruit, +I cannot even venture to form a conception. But I have a definite idea +as to how much would be required to set it fairly in operation. + +Why do I talk about commencing? We have already begun, and that with +considerable effect. Our hand has been forced by circumstances. +The mere rumour of our undertaking reaching the Antipodes, as before +described, called forth such a demonstration of approval that my +Officers there were compelled to begin action without waiting orders +from home. In this country we have been working on the verge of the +deadly morass for some years gone by, and not without marvellous +effect. We have our Shelters, our Labour Bureau, our Factory, +our Inquiry Officers, our Rescue Homes, our Slum Sisters, and other +kindred agencies, all in good going order. The sphere of these +operations may be a limited one; still, what we have done already is +ample proof that when I propose to do much more I am not speaking +without my book; and though the sign I ask for may not be given, +I shall go struggling forward on the same lines; still, to seriously +take in hand the work which I have sketched out--to establish this +triple Colony, with all its affiliated agencies, I must have, at least, +a hundred thousand pounds. + +A hundred thousand pounds! That is the dew on my fleece. It is not +much considering the money that is raised by my poor people for the +work of the Salvation Army. The proceeds of the Self-denial Week alone +last year brought us in #20,000. This year it will not fall short of +#25,000. If our poor people can do so much out of their poverty, +I do not think I am making an extravagant demand when I ask that out of +the millions of the wealth of the world I raise, as a first instalment, +a hundred thousand pounds, and say that I cannot consider myself +effectually called to undertake this work unless it is forthcoming. + +It is in no spirit of dictation or arrogance that I ask the sign. +It is a necessity. Even Moses could not have taken the Children of +Israel dry-shod through the Red Sea unless the waves had divided. + +That was the sign which marked out his duty, aided his faith, +and determined his action. The sign which I seek is somewhat similar. +Money is not everything. It is not by any means the main thing. +Midas, with all his millions, could no more do the work than he could +win the battle of Waterloo, or hold the Pass of Thermopylae. +But the millions of Midas are capable of accomplishing great and mighty +things, if they be sent about doing good under the direction of Divine +wisdom and Christ-like love. + +How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of +Heaven! It is easier to make a hundred poor men sacrifice their lives +than it is to induce one rich man to sacrifice his fortune, or even a +portion of it, to a cause in which, in his half-hearted fashion, +he seems to believe. When I look over the roll of men and women who +have given up friends, parents, home prospects, and everything they +possess in order to walk bare-footed beneath a burning sun in distant +India, to live on a handful of rice, and die in the midst of the dark +heathen for God and the Salvation Army, I sometimes marvel how it is +that they should be so eager to give up all, even life itself, in a +cause which has not power enough in it to induce any reasonable number +of wealthy men to give to it the mere superfluities and luxuries of +their existence. From those to whom much is given much is expected; +but, alas, alas, how little is realised! It is still the widow who +casts her all into the Lord's treasury--the wealthy deem it a +preposterous suggestion when we allude to the Lord's tithe, and count +it boredom when we ask only for the crumbs that fall from their tables. + +Those who have followed me thus far will decide for themselves to what +extent they ought to help me to carry out this Project, or whether they +ought to help me at all. I do not think that any sectarian differences +or religious feelings whatever ought to be imported into this question. +Supposing you do not like my Salvationism, surely it is better for +these miserable, wretched crowds to have food to eat, clothes to wear, +and a home in which to lay their weary bones after their day's toil is +done, even though the change is accompanied by some peculiar religious +notions and practices, than it would be for them to be hungry, +and naked, and homeless, and possess no religion at all. It must be +infinitely preferable that they should speak the truth, and be +virtuous, industrious, and contented, even if they do pray to God, +sing Psalms, and go about with red jerseys, fanatically, as you call +it, "seeking for the millennium"--than that they should remain +thieves or harlots, with no belief in God at all, a burden to the +Municipality, a curse to Society, and a danger to the State. + +That you do not like the Salvation Army, I venture to say, is no +justification for withholding your sympathy and practical co-operation +in carrying out a Scheme which promises so much blessedness to your +fellow-men. You may not like our government, our methods, our faith. +Your feeling towards us might perhaps be duly described by an +observation that slipped unwittingly from the tongue of a somewhat +celebrated leader in the evangelistic world sometime ago, who, +when asked what he thought of the Salvation Army, replied that +"He did not like it at all, but he believed that God Almighty did." +Perhaps, as an agency, we may not be exactly of your way of thinking, +but that is hardly the question. Look at that dark ocean, full of +human wrecks, writhing in anguish and despair. How to rescue those +unfortunates is the question. The particular character of the methods +employed, the peculiar uniforms worn by the lifeboat crew, the noises +made by the rocket apparatus, and the mingled shoutings of the rescued +and the rescuers, may all be contrary to your taste and traditions. +But all these objections and antipathies, I submit, are as nothing +compared with the delivering of the people out of that dark sea. + +If among my readers there be any who have the least conception that +this scheme is put forward by me from any interested motives by all +means let them refuse to contribute even by a single penny to what +would be, at least, one of the most shameless of shams. There may be +those who are able to imagine that men who have been literally martyred +in this cause have faced their death for the sake of the paltry coppers +they collected to keep body and soul together. Such may possibly find +no difficulty in persuading themselves that this is but another attempt +to raise money to augment that mythical fortune which I, who never yet +drew a penny beyond mere out-of-pocket expenses from the Salvation Army +funds, am supposed to be accumulating. From all such I ask only the +tribute of their abuse, assured that the worst they say of me is too +mild to describe the infamy of my conduct if they are correct in this +interpretation of my motives. + +There appears to me to be only two reasons that will justify any man, +with a heart in his bosom, in refusing to co-operate with me in this +Scheme: -- + +1. That he should have an honest and intelligent conviction that it + cannot be carried out with any reasonable measure of success; or, + +2. That he (the objector) is prepared with some other plan which will + as effectually accomplish the end it contemplates. + +Let me consider the second reason first. If it be that you have some +plan that promises more directly to accomplish the deliverance of these +multitudes than mine, I implore you at once to bring it out. +Let it see the light of day. Let us not only hear your theory, +but see the evidences which prove its practical character and assure +its success. If your plan will bear investigation, I shall then +consider you to be relieved from the obligation to assist me--nay, +if after full consideration of your plan I find it better than mine, +I will give up mine, turn to, and help you with all my might. +But if you have nothing to offer, I demand your help in the name of +those whose cause I plead. + +Now, then, for your first objection, which I suppose can be expressed +in one word--"impossible." This, if well founded, is equally fatal to +my proposals. But, in reply, I may say--How do you know? +Have you inquired? I will assume that you have read the book, and duly +considered it. Surely you would not dismiss so important a theme +without some thought. And though my arguments may not have sufficient +weight to carry conviction, you must admit them to be of sufficient +importance to warrant investigation. Will you therefore come and see +for yourself what has been done already, or, rather, what we are doing +to-day. Failing this, will you send someone capable of judging on your +behalf. I do not care very much whom you send. It is true the things +of the Spirit are spiritually discerned, but the things of humanity any +man can judge, whether saint or sinner, if he only possess average +intelligence and ordinary bowels of compassion. + +I should, however, if I had a choice, prefer an investigator who has +some practical knowledge of social economics, and much more should I be +pleased if he had spent some of his own time and a little of his own +money in trying to do the work himself. After such investigation I am +confident there could be only one result. + +There is one more plea I have to offer to those who might seek to +excuse themselves from rendering any financial assistance to the +Scheme. Is it not worthy at least of being tried as an experiment? +Tens of thousands of pounds are yearly spent in "trying" for minerals, +boring for coals, sinking for water, and I believe there are those who +think it worth while, at an expenditure of hundreds of thousands of +pounds, to experiment in order to test the possibility of making a +tunnel under the sea between this country and France. Should these +adventurers fail in their varied operations, they have, at least, the +satisfaction of knowing, though hundreds of thousands of pounds have +been expended, that they have not been wasted, and they will not +complain; because they have at least attempted the accomplishment of +that which they felt ought to be done; and it must be better to attempt +a duty, though we fail, than never to attempt it at all. In this book +we do think we have presented a sufficient reason to justify the +expenditure of the money and effort involved in the making of this +experiment. And though the effort should not terminate in the grand +success which I so confidently predict, and which we all must so +ardently desire, still there is bound to be, not only the satisfaction +of having attempted some sort of deliverance for these wretched people, +but certain results which will amply repay every farthing expended in +the experiment. + +I am now sixty-one years of age. The last eighteen months, during +which the continual partner of all my activities for now nearly forty +years has laid in the arms of unspeakable suffering, has added more +than many many former ones, to the exhaustion of my term of service. +I feel already something of the pressure which led the dying Emperor of +Germany to say, "I have no time to be weary." If I am to see the +accomplishment in any considerable degree of these life-long hopes, +I must be enabled to embark up on the enterprise without delay, and +with the world-wide burden constantly upon me in connection with the +universal mission of our Army I cannot be expected to struggle in this +matter alone. + +But I trust that the upper and middle classes are at last being +awakened out of their long slumber with regard to the permanent +improvement of the lot of those who have hitherto been regarded as +being for ever abandoned and hopeless. Shame indeed upon England if, +with the example presented to us nowadays by the Emperor and Government +of Germany, we simply shrug our shoulders, and pass on again to our +business or our pleasure leaving these wretched multitudes in the +gutters where they have lain so long. No, no, no; time is short. +Let us arise in the name of God and humanity, and wipe away the sad +stigma from the British banner that our horses are better treated than +our labourers. + +It will be seen that this Scheme contains many branches. +It is probable that some of my readers may not be able to endorse the +plan as a whole, while heartily approving of some of its features and +to the support of what they do not heartily approve they may not be +willing to subscribe. Where this is so, we shall be glad for them to +assist us in carrying out those portions of the undertaking which more +especially command their sympathy and commend themselves to their +judgment. For instance, one man may believe in the Over-Sea Colony, +but feel no interest in the Inebriates' Home; another, who may not care +for emigration, may desire to furnish a Factory or Rescue Home; a third +may wish to give us an estate, assist in the Food and Shelter work, or +the extension of the Slum Brigade. Now, although I regard the Scheme +as one and indivisible--from which you cannot take away any portion +without impairing the prospect of the whole--it is quite practicable +to administer the money subscribed so that the wishes of each donor may +be carried out. Subscriptions may, therefore, be sent in for the +general fund of the Social Scheme, or they can be devoted to any of the +following distinct funds: -- + + 1. The City Colony. + 2. The Farm Colony. + 3. The Colony Over-sea. + 4. The Household Salvage Brigade. + 5. The Rescue Homes for Fallen Women. + 6. Deliverance for the Drunkard. + 7. The Prison Gate Brigade. + 8. The Poor Man's Bank. + 9. The Poor Man's Lawyer. + 10. Whitechapel-by-the-Sea. + +Or any other department suggested by the foregoing. In making this +appeal I have, so far, addressed myself chiefly to those who have +money; but money, indispensable as it is, has never been the thing most +needful. Money is the sinews of war; and, as society is at present +constituted, neither carnal nor spiritual wars can be carried on +without money. But there is something more necessary still. +War cannot be waged without soldiers. A Wellington can do far more in +a campaign than a Rothschild. More than money--a long, long way-- +I want men; and when I say men, I mean women also--men of experience, +men of brains, men of heart, and men of God. + +In this great expedition, though I am starting for territory which is +familiar enough, I am, in a certain sense, entering an unknown land. +My people will be new at it. We have trained our soldiers to the +saving of souls, we have taught them Knee-drill, we have instructed +them in the art and mystery of dealing with the consciences and hearts +of men; and that will ever continue the main business of their lives. + +To save the soul, to regenerate the life, and to inspire the spirit +with the undying love of Christ is the work to which all other duties +must ever be strictly subordinate in the Soldiers of the Salvation +Army. But the new sphere on which we are entering will call for +faculties other than those which have hitherto been cultivated, +and for knowledge of a different character; and those who have these +gifts, and who are possessed of this practical information, will be +sorely needed. + +Already our world-wide Salvation work engrosses the energies of every +Officer whom we command. With its extension we have the greatest +difficulty to keep pace; and, when this Scheme has to be practically +grappled with, we shall be in greater straits than ever. True, it will +find employment for a multitude of energies and talents which are now +lying dormant, but, nevertheless, this extension will tax our resources +to the very utmost. In view of this, reinforcements will be +indispensable. We shall need the best brains, the largest experience, +and the most undaunted energy of the community. + +I want Recruits, but I cannot soften the conditions in order to attract +men to the Colours. I want no comrades on these terms, but those who +know our rules and are prepared to submit to our discipline: who are +one with us on the great principles which determine our action, +and whose hearts are in this great work for the amelioration of the +hard lot of the lapsed and lost. These I will welcome to the service. + +It may be that you cannot deliver an open-air address, or conduct an +indoor meeting. Public labour for souls has hitherto been outside your +practice. In the Lord's vineyard, however, are many labourers, +and all are not needed to do the same thing. If you have a practical +acquaintance with any of the varied operations of which I have spoken +in this book; if you are familiar with agriculture, understand the +building trade, or have a practical knowledge of almost any form of +manufacture, there is a place for you. + +We cannot offer you great pay, social position, or any glitter and +tinsel of man's glory; in fact, we can promise little more than +rations, plenty of hard work, and probably no little of worldly scorn; +but if on the whole you believe you can in no other way help your Lord +so well and bless humanity so much, you will brave the opposition of +friends, abandon earthly prospects, trample pride under foot, and come +out and follow Him in this New Crusade. + +To you who believe in the remedy here proposed, and the soundness of +these plans, and have the ability to assist me, I now confidently +appeal for practical evidence of the faith that is in you. +The responsibility is no longer mine alone. It is yours as much as +mine. It is yours even more than mine if you withhold the means by +which I may carry out the Scheme. I give what I have. +If you give what you have the work will be done. If it is not done, +and the dark river of wretchedness rolls on, as wide and deep as ever, +the consequences will lie at the door of him who holds back. + +I am only one man among my fellows, the same as you. The obligation to +care for these lost and perishing multitudes does not rest on me any +more than it does on you. To me has been given the idea, but to you +the means by which it may be realised. The Plan has now been published +to the world; it is for you to say whether it is to remain barren, +or whether it is to bear fruit in unnumbered blessings to all the +children of men. + + +APPENDIX + +1. The Salvation Army--A Sketch--The Position of the Forces, + October, 1890. + +2. Circular, Registration Forms, and Notices now issued by the + Labour Bureau. + +3. Count Rumford's Bavarian Experience. + +4. The Co-operative Experiment at Ralahine. + +5. Mr Carlyle on the Regimenation of the Out-of-Works. + +6. "Christianity and Civilization," by the Rev. Dr. Barry. + + +THE SALVATION ARMY + +The position of our forces. October, 1890. + + Corps or Outposts Officers or persons + Societies wholly engaged in + the work. + +The United Kingdom ... 1375 --- 4506 + +France ... ... ) 106 72 352 +Switzerland ... ) + +Sweden ... ... ... 103 41 328 + +United States ... ... 363 57 1066 + +Canada ... ... ... 317 78 1021 + +Australia-- + Victoria ... ...) + South Australia ) + New South Wales ) 270 465 903 + Tasmania ... ...) + Queensland ...) + +New Zeland ... ... 65 99 186 + +India ... ... ...) 80 51 419 +Ceylon ... ...) + +Holland ... ... 40 8 131 + +Denmark ... ... 33 -- 87 + +Norway ... ... 45 7 132 + +Germany ... ... 16 6 75 + +Belgium ... ... 4 -- 21 + +Finland ... ... 3 -- 12 + +The Argentine Republic 2 -- 15 + +South Africa & St Helena 52 12 162 + ---- ---- ---- + Total abroad 1499 896 4910 + ---- ---- ---- + Grand total 2874 896 9416 + + +THE SUPPLY ("TRADE") DEPARTMENT At Home. Abroad + +Buildings occupied ... ... ... 8 22 + +Officers ... ... ... ... ... 53 15 + +Employes ... ... ... ... ... 207 55 + --- --- + Total 260 70 + + +THE PROPERTY DEPARTMENT. + +Property now Vested in the Army;-- + +The United Kingdom ... ... ... #377,500 + +France and Switzerland ... ... 10,000 + +Sweden ... ... ... ... ... 13,598 + +Norway ... ... ... ... ... 11,676 + +The United States ... ... ... 6,601 + +Canada ... ... ... ... ... 98,728 + +Australia ... ... ... ... ... 86,251 + +New Zealand ... ... ... ... 14,798 + +India ... ... ... ... ... 5,537 + +Holland ... ... ... ... ... 7,188 + +Denmark ... ... ... ... ... 2,340 + +South Africa ... ... ... ... 10,401 + -------- + Total #644,618 + -------- + +Value of trade effects, stock, machinery, and goods on hand, +#130,000 additional. + + +SOCIAL WORK OF THE ARMY. + +Rescue homes (fallen women) ... ... 33 +Slum Posts ... ... ... ... ... 33 +Prison Gate Brigades ... ... ... 10 +Food Depots ... ... ... ... ... 4 +Shelters for the Destitute ... ... 5 +Inebriates Home ... ... ... ... 1 +Factory for the "out of work" ... 1 +Labour Bureaux ... ... ... ... 2 + +Officers and others managing those branches 384 + + +SALVATION AND SOCIAL REFORM LITERATURE + + At home. Abroad Circulation +Weekly Newspapers ... 3 24 31,000,000 +Monthly Magazines ... 3 12 2,400,000 + -- --- ----------- + Total 6 36 33,400,000 + -- --- ----------- + + +Total annual circulation of the above 33,400,000 +Total annual circulation of other publications 4,000,000 + ----------- +Total annual circulation of Army literature 37,400,000 + ----------- + +The United Kingdom-- + +"The War Cry" 300,000 weekly +"The Young Soldier" 126,750 weekly +"All the World" 50,000 monthly +"The Deliverer" 48,000 monthly + + +GENERAL STATEMENTS AND STATISTICS. + Accommodation Annual cost. +Training Garrisons for Officers + (United Kingdom) 28 #11,500 + (Abroad) 38 760 + +Large Vans for Evangelising the Villages + (known as Cavalry Forts) + +Homes of Rest for Officers 24 240 10,000 + +Indoor Meetings, held weekly 28,351 + +Open-air Meetings held weekly + (chiefly in England and Colonies) 21,467 + ------- +Total Meetings held weekly 49,818 + ------- + +Number of Houses visited weekly + (Great Britain only) 54,000 + +Number of Countries and Colonies occupied + +Number of Languages in which Literature is issued 15 + +Number of Languages in which Salvation is preached +by the Officers 29 + +Number of Local (Non-Commissioned Officers) +and Bandsman 23,069 + +Number of Scribes and Office Employes 471 + +Average weekly reception of telegrams, 600 +and letters, 5,400 at the London Headquarters + +Sum raised annually from all sources by the Army #750,000 + +Balance Sheets, duly audited by chartered accountants, are issued +annually in connection with the International Headquarters. +See the Annual Report of 1889--"Apostolic Warfare." + +Balance Sheets are also produced quarterly at every Corps in the world, +audited and signed by the Local Officers. Divisional Balance Sheets +issued monthly and audited by a Special Department at Headquarters. + +Duly and independently audited Balance Sheets are also issued annually +from every Territorial Headquarters. + + +THE AUXILIARY LEAGUE. + +1.--Of persons who, without necessarily endorsing or approving of +every single method used by thee Salvation Army, are sufficiently in +sympathy with its great work of reclaiming drunkards, rescuing the +fallen--in a word, saving the lost--as to give it their PRAYERS, +INFLUENCE, AND MONEY. + +2.--Of persons who, although seeing eye to eye with the Army, yet are +unable to join it, owing to being actively engaged in the work of their +own denominations, or by reason of bad health or other infirmities, +which forbid their taking any active part in Christian work. +Persons are enrolled either as Subscribing or Collecting Auxiliaries. + +The League comprises persons of influence and position, members of +nearly all denominations, and many ministers. + +PAMPHLETS.--Auxiliaries will always be supplied gratis with copies of +our Annual Report and Balance Sheet and other pamphlets for +distribution on application to Headquarters. Some of our Auxiliaries +have materially helped us in this way by distributing our literature at +the seaside and elsewhere, and by making arrangements for the regular +supply of waiting rooms, hydropathics, and hotels, thus helping to +dispel the prejudice under which many persons unacquainted with the +Army are found to labour. + +"All The World" posted free regularly each month to Auxiliaries. + +For further information, and for full particulars of the work of The +Salvation Army, apply personally or by letter to GENERAL BOOTH,. +or to the Financial Secretary at International Headquarters, +101, Queen Victoria St., London, E.C., to whom also contributions +should be sent. + +Cheques and Postal Orders crossed "City Bank." + + +THE SALVATION ARMY: A SKETCH. + +BY AN OFFICER OF SEVENTEEN YEARS' STANDING. What is the Salvation Army? + +It is an Organisation existing to effect a radical revolution in the +spiritual condition of the enormous majority of the people of all +lands. Its aim is to produce a change not only in the opinions, +feelings, and principles of these vast populations, but to alter the +whole course of their lives, so that instead of spending their time in +frivolity and pleasure-seeking, if not in the grossest forms of vice, +they shall spend it in the service of their generation and in the +worship of God. So far it has mainly operated in professedly Christian +countries, where the overwhelming majority of the people have ceased, +publicly, at any rate, to worship Jesus Christ, or to submit themselves +in any way to His authority. To what extent has the Army succeeded? + +Its flag is now flying in 34 countries or colonies, where under the +leadership of nearly 10,000 men and women, whose lives are entirely +given up to the work, it is holding some 49,800 religious meetings +every week, attended by millions of persons, who ten years ago would +have laughed at the idea of praying. + +And these operations are but the means for further extension, +as will be seen, especially when it is remembered that the Army has +its 27 weekly newspapers, of which no less than 31,000,000 copies are +sold in the streets, public houses, and popular resorts of the +godless majority. From its, ranks it is therefore certain that an +ever-increasing multitude of men and women must eventually be won. + +That all this has not amounted to the creation of a mere passing gust +of feeling, may best be demonstrated perhaps from the fact that the +Army has accumulated no less than #775,000 worth of property, +pays rentals amounting to #220,000 per annum for its meeting places, +and has a total income from all sources of three-quarters of a million +per annum. Now consider from whence all this has sprung. +It is only twenty-five years since the author of this volume stood +absolutely alone in the East of London, to endeavour to Christianise +its irreligious multitudes, without the remotest conception in his own +mind of the possibility of any such Organisation being created. + +Consider, moreover, through what opposition the Salvation Army has ever +had to make its way. + +In each country it has to face universal prejudice, distrust, +and contempt, and often stronger antipathy still. This opposition has +generally found expression in systematic, Governmental, and Police +restriction, followed in too many cases by imprisonment, and by the +condemnatory outpourings of Bishops, Clergy, Pressmen and others, +naturally followed in too many instances by the oaths and curses, +the blows and insults of the populace. Through all this, in country +after country, the Army makes its way to the position of universal +respect, that respect, at any rate, which is shown to those who have +conquered. And of what material has this conquering host been made? +Wherever the Army goes it gathers into its meetings, in the first +instance, a crowd of the most debased, brutal, blasphemous elements +that can be found who, if permitted, interrupt the services, +and if they see the slightest sign of police tolerance for their +misconduct, frequently fall upon the Army officers or their property +with violence. Yet a couple of Officers face such an audience with the +absolute certainty of recruiting out of it an Army Corps. +Many thousands of those who are now most prominent in the ranks of the +Army never knew what it was to pray before they attended its services; +and large numbers of them had settled into a profound conviction that +everything connected with religion was utterly false. It is out of such +material that God has constructed what is admitted to be one of the +most fervid bodies of believers ever seen on the face of the earth. + +Many persons in looking at the progress of the Army have shown a +strange want of discernment in talking and writing as though all this +had been done in a most haphazard fashion, or as though an individual +could by the mere effort of his will produce such changes in the lives +of others as he chose. The slightest reflection will be sufficient we +are sure to convince any impartial individual that the gigantic results +attained by the Salvation Army could only be reached by steady +unaltering processes adapted to this end. And what are the processes by +which this great Army has been made? + +1. The foundation of all the Army's success, looked at apart from its +divine source of strength, is its continued direct attack upon those +whom it seeks to bring under the influence of the Gospel. +The Salvation Army Officer, instead of standing upon some dignified +pedestal, to describe the fallen condition of his fellow men, in the +hope that though far from him, they may thus, by some mysterious +process, come to a better life, goes down into the street, and from +door to door, and from room to room, lays his hands on those who are +spiritually sick, and leads them to the Almighty Healer. In its forms of +speech and writing the Army constantly exhibits this same characteristic. +Instead of propounding religious theories or pretending to teach a +system of theology, it speaks much after the fashion of the old Prophet +or Apostle, to each individual, about his or her sin and duty, thus +bringing to bear upon each heart and conscience the light and power +from heaven, by which alone the world can be transformed. + +2. And step by step, along with this human contact goes unmistakably +something that is not human. + +The puzzlement and self-contradiction of most critics of the Army +springs undoubtedly from the fact that they are bound to account for +its success without admitting that any superhuman power attends its +ministry, yet day after day, and night after night, the wonderful facts +go on multiplying. The man who last night was drunk in a London slum, +is to-night standing up for Christ on an Army platform. The clever +sceptic, who a few weeks ago was interrupting the speakers in Berlin, +and pouring contempt upon their claims to a personal knowledge of the +unseen Saviour, is to-day as thorough a believer as any of them. +The poor girl, lost to shame and hope, who a month ago was an outcast +of Paris, is to-day a modest devoted follower of Christ, working in a +humble situation. To those who admit we are right in saying +"this is the Lord's doing," all is simple enough, and our certainty +that the dregs of Society can become its ornaments requires no further +explanation. + +3. All these modern miracles would, however, have been comparatively +useless but for the Army's system of utilising the gifts and energy of +our converts to the uttermost. Suppose that without any claim to Divine +power the Army had succeeded in raising up tens of thousands of +persons, formerly unknown and unseen in the community, and made them +into Singers, Speakers, Musicians, and Orderlies, that would surely in +itself have been a remarkable fact. But not only have these engaged in +various labours for the benefit of the community. They have been filled +with a burning ambition to attain the highest possible degree of +usefulness. No one can wonder that we expect to see the same process +carried on successfully amongst our new friends of the Casual Ward and +the Slum. And if the Army has been able to accomplish all this +utilisation of human talents for the highest purposes, in spite of an +almost universally prevailing contrary practice amongst the Churches, +what may not its Social Wing be expected to do, with the example of the +Army before it? + +4. The maintenance of all this system has, of course, been largely due +to the unqualified acceptance of military government and discipline. +But for this we cannot be blind to the fact that even in our own ranks +difficulties would every day arise as to the exaltation to front seats +of those who were formerly persecutors and injurious. The old feeling +which would have kept Paul suspected, in the background, after his +conversion is, unfortunately, a part of the conservative groundwork of +human nature that continues to exist everywhere, and which has to be +overcome by rigid discipline in order to secure that everywhere and +always, the new convert should be made the most of for Christ. +But our Army system is a great indisputable fact, so much so that our +enemies sometimes reproach us with it. That it should be possible to +create an Army Organisation, and to secure faithful execution of duty +daily is indeed a wonder, but a wonder accomplished, just as completely +amongst the Republicans of America and France, as amongst the +militarily trained Germans, or the subjects of the British monarchy. +It is notorious that we can send an officer from London, possessed of +no extraordinary ability, to take command of any corps in the world, +with a certainty that he will find soldiers eager to do his bidding, +and without a thought of disputing his commands, so long as he +continues faithful to the orders and regulations under which his men +are enlisted. + +5. But those show a curious ignorance who set down our successes to +this discipline, as though it were something of the prison order, +although enforced without any of the power lying either behind the +prison warder or the Catholic priest. On the contrary, wherever the +discipline of the Army has been endangered, and its regular success for +a time interrupted, it has been through an attempt to enforce it +without enough of that joyous, cheerful spirit of love which is its +main spring. Nobody can become acquainted with our soldiers in any +land, without being almost immediately struck with their extraordinary +gladness, and this joy is in itself one of the most infectious and +influential elements of the Army's success. But if this be so, amid the +comparatively well to do, judge of what its results are likely to be +amongst the poorest and most wretched! To those who have never known +bright days, the mere sight of a happy face is as it were a revelation +and inspiration in one. + +6. But the Army's success does not come with magical rapidity; +it depends, like that of all real work, upon infinite perseverance. + +To say nothing of the perseverance of the Officer who has made the +saving of men his life work, and who, occupied and absorbed with this +great pursuit, may naturally enough be expected to remain faithful, +there are multitudes of our Soldiers who, after a hard day's toil for +their daily bread, have but a few hours of leisure, but devote it +ungrudgingly to the service of the War. Again and again, when the +remains of some Soldier are laid to rest, amid the almost universal +respect of a town, which once knew him only as an evil-doer, we hear it +said that this man, since the date of his conversion, from five to ten +years ago, has seldom been absent from his post, and never without good +reason for it. His duty may have been comparatively insignificant, +"only a door-keeper," "only a War Cry seller," yet Sunday after Sunday, +evening after evening, he would be present, no matter who the +commanding officer might be, to do his part, bearing with the unruly, +breathing hope into the distressed, and showing unwavering faithfulness +to all. The continuance of these processes of mercy depends largely +upon leadership, and the creation and maintenance of this leadership +has been one of the marvels of the Movement. We have men to-day looked +up to and reverenced over wide areas of country, arousing multitudes to +the most devoted service, who a few years ago were champions of +iniquity, notorious in nearly every form of vice, and some of them +ringleaders in violent opposition to the Army. We have a right to +believe that on the same lines God is going to raise up just such +leaders without measure and without end. + +Beneath, behind, and pervading all the successes of the Salvation Army +is a force against which the world may sneer, but without which the +world's miseries cannot be removed, the force of that Divine love which +breathed on Calvary, and which God is able to communicate by His spirit +to human hearts to-day. + +It is pitiful to see intelligent men attempting to account, without the +admission of this great fact, for the self-sacrifice and success of +Salvation Officers and Soldiers. If those who wish to understand the +Army would only take the trouble to spend as much as twenty-four hours +with its people, how different in almost every instance would be the +conclusions arrived at. Half-an-hour spent in the rooms inhabited by +many of our officers would be sufficient to convince, even a well-to-do +working man, that life could not be lived happily in such circumstances +without some superhuman power, which alike sustains and gladdens the +soul, altogether independently of earthly surroundings. + +The Scheme that has been propounded in this volume would, we are quite +satisfied, have no chance of success were it not for the fact that we +have such a vast supply of men and women who, through the love of +Christ ruling in their hearts, are prepared to look upon a life of +self-sacrificing effort for the benefit of the vilest and roughest as +the highest of privileges. With such a force at command, we dare to say +that the accomplishment of this stupendous undertaking is a foregone +conclusion, if the material assistance which the Army does not possess +is forthcoming. + + +THE SALVATION ARMY SOCIAL REFORM WING. + +Temporary Headquarters 36, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. + +OBJECTS.--The bringing together of employers and workers for their +mutual advantage. Making known the wants of each to each by providing a +ready method of communication. + +PLAN OF OPERATION.--The Opening of a Central Registry Office, +which for the present will be located at the above address, +and where registers will be kept free of charge wherein the wants of +both employers and workers will be recorded, the registers being open +for consultation by all interested. + +Public Waiting Rooms (for male and female), to which the unemployed may +come for the purpose of scanning the newspapers, the insertion of +advertisements for employment in all newspapers at lowest rates. +Writing tables, &c., provided for their use to enable them to write +applications for situations on work. The receiving of letters +(replies to applications for employment) for unemployed workers. + +The Waiting Rooms will also act as Houses-of-Call, where employers +can meet and enter into engagements with Workers of all kinds, +by appointment or otherwise, thus doing away with the snare +that awaits many of the unemployed, who have no place to wait other +than the Public House, which at present is almost the only +"house-of-call" for Out-of-Work men. + +By making known to the public generally the wants of the unemployed +by means of advertisements, by circulars, and direct application to +employers, the issue of labour statistics with information as to the +number of unemployed who are anxious for work, the various trades and +occupations they represent, &c., &c. + +The opening of branches of the Labour Bureau as fast as funds and +opportunities permit, in all the large towns and centres of industry +throughout Great Britain. + +In connection with the Labour Bureau, we propose to deal with both +skilled and unskilled workers, amongst the latter forming such agencies +as "Sandwich" Board Men's Society, Shoe Black, Carpet Beating, +White-washing, Window Cleaning, Wood Chopping, and other Brigades, +all of which will, with many others, be put into operation as far as +the assistance of the public (in the shape of applying for workers of +all kinds) will afford us the opportunity. + +A Domestic Servants' Agency will also be a branch of the Bureau, +and a Home For Domestic Servants out of situation is also in +contemplation. In this and other matters funds alone are required to +commence operations. All communications, donations, etc., should be +addressed as above, marked "Labour Bureau," etc. + + +CENTRAL LABOUR BUREAU. LOCAL AGENTS AND CORRESPONDENTS' DEPARTMENT. + +Dear Comrade,--The enclosed letter, which has been sent to our +Officers throughout the Field, will explain the object we have in view. +Your name has been suggested to us as one whose heart is thoroughly in +sympathy with any effort on behalf of poor suffering humanity. +We are anxious to have in connection with each of our Corps, +and in every locality throughout the Kingdom, some sympathetic, +level-headed comrade, acting as our Agent or local Correspondent, +to whom we could refer at all times for reliable information, +and who would take it as work of love to regularly communicate useful +information respecting the social condition of things generally in +their neighbourhood. + +Kindly reply, giving us your views and feelings on the subject as soon +as possible, as we are anxious to organise at once. The first business +on hand is for us to get information of those out of work and employers +requiring workers, so that we can place them upon our registers, +and make known the wants both of employers and employes. + +We shall be glad of a communication from you, giving us some facts as +to the condition of things in your locality, or any ideas or +suggestions you would like to give, calculated to help us in connection +with this good work. + +I may say that the Social Wing not only comprehends the labour +question, but also prison rescue and other branches of Salvation work, +dealing with broken-down humanity generally, so that you can see what a +great blessing you may be to the work of God by co-operating with us. + +Believe me to be, Yours affectionately for the Suffering and Lost, etc. + + + +LOCAL AGENTS AND CORRESPONDENTS DEPARTMENT. + +Proposition for local agent, correspondent, etc. + + +Name................................................................... + +Address................................................................ + +Occupation............................................................. + +If a Soldier, what Corps?.............................................. + +If not a Soldier, what Denomination?................................... + +If spoken to on the subject, what reply they have made?................ + +....................................................................... + +....................................................................... + +....................................................................... + +....................................................................... + +....................................................................... + + Signed..................................................... + + Corps...................................................... + + Date............................ 189 . + +Kindly return this as soon as possible, and we will then place +ourselves in communication with the Comrade you propose for this +position. + + + +TO EMPLOYERS OF LABOUR. + +We beg to bring to your notice the fact that the Salvation Army has +opened at the above address (in connection with the Social Reform Wing), +a Labour Bureau for the Registration of the wants of all classes +of Labour, for both employer and employe in London and throughout the +Kingdom, our object being to place in communication with each other, +for mutual advantage, those who want workers and those who want work. + +Arrangements have been made at the above address for waiting rooms, +where employers can see unemployed men and women, and where the latter +may have accommodation to write letters, see the advertisements in the +papers, &c., &c. + +If you are in want of workers of any kind, will you kindly fill up the +enclosed form and return it to us? We will then have the particulars +entered up, and endeavour to have your wants supplied. +All applications, I need hardly assure you, will have our best attention, +whether they refer to work of a permanent or temporary character. + +We shall also be glad, through the information office of Labour +Department, to give you any further information as to our plans, &c., +or an Officer will wait upon you to receive instructions for the supply +of workers, if requested. + +As no charge will be made for registration of either the wants of +employers or the wants of the unemployed, it will be obvious that a +considerable outlay will be necessary to sustain these operations in +active usefulness, and that therefore financial help will be greatly +needed. + +We shall gratefully receive donations, from the smallest coin up, +to help to cover the cost of working this department. We think it right +to say that only in special cases shall we feel at liberty to give +personal recommendations. This however, will no doubt be understood, +seeing that we shall have to deal with very large numbers who are +total strangers to us. Please address all communications or donations +as above, marked "Central Labour Bureau," etc. + + +WE PROPOSE TO ENTER UPON A CRUSADE AGAINST "SWEATING." WILL YOU HELP US? + +Dear Sir,--in connection with the Social Reform Wing a Central Labour +Bureau has been opened, one department of which will deal especially +with that class of labour termed "unskilled," from amongst whom are +drawn BOARDMEN, MESSENGERS, BILL DISTRIBUTORS, CIRCULAR ADDRESSERS, +WINDOW CLEANERS, WHITE-WASHERS, CARPET BEATERS, &C., &C. + +It is very important that work given to these workers and others not +enumerated, should be taxed as little as possible by the Contractor, +or those who act between the employer and the worker. + +In all our operations in this capacity we do not propose to make profit +out of those we benefit; paying over the whole amount received, less +say one halfpenny in the shilling, or some such small sum which will go +towards the expense of providing boards for "sandwich" boardmen, the +hire of barrows, purchase of necessary tools, &c., &c. + +We are very anxious to help that most needy class, the "boardmen," many +of whom are "sweated" out of their miserable earnings; receiving often +as low as one shilling for a day's toil. + +WE APPEAL TO ALL WHO SYMPATHISE WITH SUFFERING HUMANITY, especially +Religious and Philanthropic individuals and Societies, to assist us in +our efforts, by placing orders for the supply of Boardmen, Messengers, +Bill-distributors, Window-cleaners and other kinds of labour in our +hands. Our charge for "boardmen" will be 2s. 2d., including boards, the +placing and proper supervision of the men, &c. Two shillings, at least, +will go direct to the men; most of the hirers of boardmen pay this, and +some even more, but often not more than one-half reaches the men. +We shall be glad to forward you further information of our plans, +or will send a representative to further explain, or to take orders, +on receiving notice from you to that effect. + + Believe me to be, + Yours faithfully, etc. + + + CENTRAL LABOUR BUREAU. + + TO THE UNEMPLOYED.--MALE AND FEMALE. + + NOTICE. + +A Free Registry, for all kinds of unemployed labour, has been opened at +the above address. If you want work, call and make yourself and your +wants known. Enter your name and address and wants on the Registers, or +fill up form below, and hand it in at above address. Look over the +advertising pages of the papers provided. Tables with pens and ink are +provided for you to write for situations. If you live at a distance, +fill up this form giving all particulars, or references, and forward to +Commissioner Smith, care of the Labour Bureau. + +Name....................................................... + +Address.................................................... + +........................................................... + +Kind of work wanted........................................ + +Wages you ask.............................................. + + +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + Name I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + Age I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + During past 10 years have I + you had regular employment? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + How long for? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + What kind of work? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + What work can you do? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + What have you worked at I + at odd times? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + How much did you earn when I + regularly employed? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + How much did you earn when I + irregularly employed? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + Are you married? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + Is wife living? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + I + How many children and ages? I + I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- +If you were put on a farm to I +work at anything you could do, I +and were supplied with food, I +lodging, and clothes, with a I +view to getting you on your feet, I +would you do all you could? I +--------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +HOW BEGGARY WAS ABOLISHED IN BAVARIA BY COUNT RUMFORD. + +Count Rumford was an American officer who served with considerable +distinction in the Revolutionary War in that country, and afterwards +settled in England. From thence he went to Bavaria, where he was +promoted to the chief command of its army, and also was energetically +employed in the Civil Government. Bavaria at this time literally +swarmed with beggars, who were not only an eyesore and discredit to the +nation, but a positive injury to the State. The Count resolved upon the +extinction of this miserable profession, and the following extracts +from his writings describe the method by which he accomplished it: -- + +"Bavaria, by the neglect of the Government, and the abuse of the +kindness and charity of its amiable people, had become infested with +beggars, with whom mingled vagabonds and thieves. They were to the body +politic what parasites and vermin are to people and dwellings-- +breeding by the same lazy neglect."--(Page 14.) + +"In Bavaria there were laws which made provision for the poor, but they +suffered them to fall into neglect. Beggary had become general."-- +(Page 15.) + +"In short," says Count Rumford, "these detestable vermin swarmed +everywhere; and not only their impudence and clamorous importunity were +boundless, but they had recourse to the most diabolical arts and the +most horrid crimes in the prosecution of their infamous trade. +They exposed and tortured their own children, and those they stole for +the purpose, to extort contributions from the charitable."--(Page 15.) + +"In the large towns beggary was an organised imposture, with a sort of +government and police of its own. Each beggar had his beat, with +orderly successions and promotions, as with other governments. +There were battles to decide conflicting claims, and a good beat was +not unfreguently a marriage portion or a thumping legacy."--(Page 16.) + +"He saw that it was not enough to forbid beggary by law or to punish it +by imprisonment. The beggars cared for neither. The energetic Yankee +Statesman attacked the question as he did problems in physical science. +He studied beggary and beggars. How would he deal with one individual +beggar? Send him for a month to prison to beg again as soon as he came +out? That is no remedy. The evident course was to forbid him to beg, +but at the same time to give him the opportunity to labor; to teach him +to work, to encourage him to honest industry. And the wise ruler sets +himself to provide food, comfort, and work for every beggar and +vagabond in Bavaria, and did it."--(Page 17.) + +"Count Rumford, wise and just, sets himself to reform the whole class +of beggars and vagabonds, and convert them into useful citizens, even +those who had sunk into vice and crime. + +"'What,' he asked himself, 'is, after the necessaries of life, the +first condition of comfort?' Cleanliness, which animals and insects +prize, which in man affects his moral character, and which is akin to +godliness. The idea that the soul is defiled and depraved by what is +unclean has long prevailed in all ages. Virtue never dwelt long with +filth. Our bodies are at war with everything that defiles them. + +"His first step, after a thorough study and consideration of the +subject, was to provide in Munich, and at all necessary points, large, +airy, and even elegant Houses of Industry, and store them with the +tools and materials of such manufactures as were most needed, and would +be most useful. Each house was provided with a large dining-room and a +cooking apparatus sufficient to furnish an economical dinner to every +worker. Teachers were engaged for each kind of labour. Warmth, light, +comfort, neatness, and order, in and around these houses, made them +attractive. The dinner every day was gratis, provided at first by the +Government, later by the contributions of the citizens. Bakers brought +stale bread; butchers, refuse meat; citizens, their broken victuals-- +all rejoicing in being freed from the nuisance of beggary. The teachers +of handicrafts were provided by the Government. And while all this was +free, everyone was paid the full value for his labour. You shall not +beg; but here is comfort, food, work, pay. There was no ill-usage, no +harsh language; in five years not a blow was given even to a child by +his instructor. + +"When the preparations for this great experiment had been silently +completed, the army--the right arm of the governing power, which had +been prepared tor the work by its own thorough reformation--was +called into action in aid of the police and the civil magistrates. +Regiments of cavalry were so disposed as to furnish every town with a +detachment, with patrols on every highway, and squads in the villages, +keeping the strictest order and discipline, paying the utmost deference +to the civil authorities, and avoiding all offence to the people; +instructed when the order was given to arrest every beggar, vagrant, +and deserter and bring them before the magistrates. This military +police cost nothing extra to the country beyond a few cantonments, +and this expense to the whole country was less than #3,000 a-year. + +"The 1st of January, 1790--New Year's Day, from time immemorial +the beggars' holiday, when they swarmed in the streets, expecting +everyone to give--the commissioned and non-commissioned officers of +three regiments of infantry were distributed early in the morning at +different points of Munich to wait for orders. Lieutenant-General Count +Rumford assembled at his residence the chief officers of the army and +principal magistrates of the city, and communicated to them his plans +for the campaign. Then, dressed in the uniform of his rank, with his +orders and decorations glittering on his breast, setting an example to +the humblest soldier, he led them into the street, and had scarcely +reached it before a beggar approached wished him a 'Happy New Year,' +and waited for the expected aims. 'I went up to him, says Count Rumford, +'and laying my hand gently on his shoulder, told him that henceforth +begging would not be permitted in Munich; that if he was in need, +assistance would be given him; and if detected begging again, he would +be severely punished.' He was then sent to the Town Hall, his name and +residence inscribed upon the register, and he was directed to repair to +the Military House of Industry next morning, where he would find +dinner, work, and wages. Every officer, every magistrate, every +soldier, followed the example set them; every beggar was arrested, +and in one day a stop was put to beggary in Bavaria. It was banished +out of the kingdom. + +"And now let us see what was the progress and success of this +experiment. It seemed a risk to trust the raw materials of industry-- +wool, flax, hemp, etc.--to the hands of common beggars; to render +debauched and depraved class orderly and useful, was an arduous +enterprise. Of course the greater number made bad work at the +beginning. For months they cost more than they came to. They spoiled +more horns than they made spoons. Employed first in the coarser and +ruder manufactures, they were advanced as they improved, and were for +some time paid more than they earned--paid to encourage good will, +effort, and perseverance. These were worth any sum. The poor people saw +that they were treated with more than justice--with kindness. It was +very evident that it was all for their good. At first there was +confusion, but no insubordination. They were awkward, but not +insensible to kindness. The aged, the weak, and the children were put +to the easiest tasks. The younger children were paid simply to look on +until they begged to join in the work, which seemed to them like play. +Everything around them was made clean, quiet, orderly, and pleasant. +Living at their own homes, they came at a fixed hour in the morning. +They had at noon a hot, nourishing dinner of soup and bread. Provisions +were either contributed or bought wholesale, and the economies of +cookery were carried to the last point of perfection. Count Rumford had +so planned the cooking apparatus that three women cooked a dinner for +one thousand persons at a cost though wood was used, of 4 1/2d. for +fuel; and the entire cost of the dinner for 1,200 was only #1 7s 6 1/2d., +or about one-third of a penny for each person! Perfect order was kept +--at work, at meals, and everywhere. As soon as a company took its +place at table, the food having been previously served, all repeated a +short prayer. 'Perhaps,' says Count Rumford, 'I ought to ask pardon for +mentioning so old-fashioned a custom, but I own I am old-fashioned +enough myself to like such things.' + +"These poor people were generously paid for their labour, but something +more than cash payment was necessary. There was needed the feeling of +emulation, the desire to excel, the sense of honour, the love of glory. +Not only pay, but rewards, prizes, distinctions, were given to the more +deserving. Peculiar care was taken with the children. They were first +paid simply for being present, idle lookers-on, until they begged with +tears to be allowed to work. 'How sweet those tears were to me,' says +Count Rumford, 'can easily be imagined.' Certain hours were spent by +them in a school, for which teachers were provided. + +"The effect of these measures was very remarkable. Awkward as the +people were, they were not stupid, and learned to work with unexpected +rapidity. More wonderful was the change in their manners, appearances +and the very expression of their countenances. Cheerfulness and +gratitude replaced the gloom of misery and the sullenness of despair. +Their hearts were softened; they were most grateful to their benefactor +for themselves, still more for their children. These worked with their +parents, forming little industrial groups, whose affection excited the +interest of every visitor. Parents were happy in the industry and +growing intelligence of their children, and the children were proud of +their own achievements. + +"The great experiment was a complete and triumphant success. When Count +Rumford wrote his account of it, it had been five years in operation; +it was, financially, a paying speculation, and had not only banished +beggary, but had wrought an entire change in the manners, habits, and +very appearance of the most abandoned and degraded people in the +kingdom."--("Count Rumford," pages 18-24.) + +"Are the poor ungrateful? Count Rumford did not find them so. When, +from the exhaustion of his great labours, he fell dangerously ill, +these poor people whom he had rescued from lives of shame and misery, +spontaneously assembled, formed a procession, and went in a body to the +Cathedral to offer their united prayers for his recovery. When he was +absent in Italy, and supposed to be dangerously ill in Naples, they set +apart a certain time every day, after work hours, to pray for their +benefactor. After an absence of fifteen months, Count Rumford returned +with renewed health to Munich--a city where there was work for everyone, +and not one person whose wants were not provided for. When he visited +the military workhouse, the reception given him by these poor people +drew tears from the eyes of all present. A few days after he +entertained eighteen hundred of them in the English garden--a festival +at which 30,000 of the citizens of Munich assisted." +("Count Rumford," pages 24-25.) + + + +THE CO-OPERATIVE EXPERIMENT AT RALAHINE, + +"The outrages of the 'Whitefeet,' 'Lady Clare Boys,' and 'Terry Alts' +(labourers) far exceeded those of recent occurrence; yet no remedy but +force was attempted, except by one Irish landlord, Mr. John Scott +Vandeleur, of Ralahine, county Clare, late high sheriff of his county. +Early in 1831 his family had been obliged to take flight, in charge of +an armed police force, and his steward had been murdered by one of the +labourers, having been chosen by lot at a meeting held to decide who +should perpetrate the deed. Mr. Vandeleur came to England to seek +someone who would aid him in organising the labourers into an +agricultural and manufacturing association, to be conducted on +co-operative principles, and he was recommended to Mr. Craig, who, at +great sacrifice of his position and prospects, consented to give his +services. + +"No one but a man of rare zeal and courage would have attempted so +apparently hopeless a task as that which Mr. Craig undertook. Both the +men whom he had to manage--the Terry Alts who had murdered their +master's steward--and their surroundings were as little calculated to +give confidence in the success of the scheme as they well could be. +The men spoke generally the Irish language, which Mr. Craig did not +understand, and they looked upon him with suspicion as one sent to worm +out of them the secret of the murder recently committed. He was +consequently treated with coldness, and worse than that. On one +occasion the outline of his grave was cut out of the pasture near his +dwelling, and he carried his life in his hand. After a time, however, +he won the confidence of these men, rendered savage as they had been by +ill-treatment. + +"The farm was let by Mr. Vandeleur at a fixed rent, to be paid in fixed +quantities of farm produce, which, at the prices ruling in 1830-31, +would bring in #900, which included interest on buildings, machinery, +and live stock provided by Mr. Vandeleur. The rent alone was #700. +As the farm consisted of 618 acres, only 268 of which were under +tillage, this rent was a very high one--a fact which was acknowledged +by the landlord. All profits after payment of rent and interest +belonged to the members, divisible at the end of the year if desired. +They started a co-operative store to supply themselves with food and +clothing, and the estate was managed by a committee of the members, +who paid every male and female member wages for their labour in labour +notes which were exchangeable at the store for goods or cash. +Intoxicating drink or tobacco were prohibited. The committee each day +allotted each man his duties. The members worked the land partly as +kitchen garden and fruit orchards, and partly as dairy farm, stall +feeding being encouraged and root crops grown for the cattle. Pigs, +poultry, &c., were reared. Wages at the time were only 8d per day for +men and 5d. for women, and the members were paid at these rates. +Yet, as they lived chiefly on potatoes and milk produced on the farm, +which, as well as mutton and pork, were sold to them at extremely low +prices, they saved money or rather notes. Their health and appearance +quickly improved, so much so that, with disease raging round them, +there was no case of death or serious illness among them while the +experiment lasted. The single men lived together in a large building, +and the families in cottages. Assisted by Mrs. Craig, the secretary +carried out the most enlightened system of education for the young, +those old enough being alternately employed on the farm and in the +school. Sanitary arrangements were in a high state of perfection, and +physical and moral training were most carefully attended to. In respect +of these and other social arrangements, Mr. Craig was a man much before +his time, and he has since made himself a name in connection with their +application in various parts of the country. + +"The 'New System,' as the Ralahine experiment was called, though at +first regarded with suspicion and derision, quickly gained favour in +the district, so that before long outsiders were extremely anxious to +become members of the association. In January, 1832, the community +consisted of fifty adults and seventeen children. The total number +afterwards increased to eighty-one. Everything was prosperous, and the +members of the association were not only benefitted themselves, but +their improvement exercised a beneficent influence upon the people in +their neighbourhood. It was hoped that other landlords would imitate +the excellent example of Mr. Vandeleur, especially as his experiment +was one profitable to himself, as well as calculated to produce peace +and contentment in disturbed Ireland. Just when these hopes were raised +to their highest degree of expectancy, the happy community at Ralahine +was broken up through the ruin and flight of Mr. Vandeleur, who had +lost his property by gambling. Everything was sold off, and the labour +notes saved by the members would have been worthless had not Mr. Craig, +with noble self-sacrifice, redeemed them out of his own pocket. + +"We have given but a very scanty description of the system pursued at +Ralahine. The arrangements were in most respects admirable, +and reflected the greatest credit upon Mr. Craig as an organiser and +administrator. To his wisdom, energy, tact, and forbearance the success +of his experiment was in great measure due, and it is greatly to be +regretted that he was not in a position to repeat the attempt under +more favourable circumstances." ("History of a Co-operative Farm.") + + + +CARLYLE ON THE SOCIAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE NATION + +FORTY-FIVE YEARS AGO. Inserted at the earnest request of a friend, who +was struck by the coincidence of some ideas, similar to those of this +volume, set forth so long ago, but as yet remaining unrealised, and +which I had never read. + +EXTRACTS FROM "PAST AND PRESENT." + +"A Prime Minister, even here in England, who shall dare believe the +heavenly omens, and address himself like a man and hero to the great +dumb-struggling heart of England, and speak out for it, and act out for +it, the God's-justice it is writhing to get uttered and perishing for +want of--yes, he too will see awaken round him, in passionate, +burning, all-defiant loyalty, the heart of England, and such a +'support' as no Division-List or Parliamentary Majority was ever yet +known to yield a man! Here as there, now as then, he who can and dare +trust the heavenly Immensities, all earthly Localities are subject to +him. We will pray for such a man and First-Lord;--yes, and far +better, we will strive and incessantly make ready, each of us, to be +worthy to serve and second such a First-Lord! We shall then be as good +as sure of his arriving; sure of many things, let him arrive or not. + +"Who can despair of Governments that passes a Soldier's Guard-house, or +meets a red-coated man on the streets? That a body of men could be got +together to kill other men when you bade them: this, a priori, does it +not seem one of the impossiblest things? Yet look, behold it: in the +stolidest of Do-nothing Governments, that impossibility is a thing +done."--(Carlyle, "Past and Present," page 223.) + +"Strange, interesting, and yet most mournful to reflect on. Was this, +then, of all the things mankind had some talent for, the one thing +important to learn well, and bring to perfection; this of successfully +killing one another? Truly, you have learned it well, and carried the +business to a high perfection. It is incalculable what, by arranging, +commanding, and regimenting you can make of men. These thousand +straight-standing, firm-set individuals, who shoulder arms, who march, +wheel, advance, retreat; and are, for your behoof a magazine charged +with fiery death, in the most perfect condition of potential activity. +Few months ago, till the persuasive sergeant came, what were they? +Multiform ragged losels, runaway apprentices, starved weavers thievish +valets; an entirely broken population, fast tending towards the +treadmill. But the persuasive sergeant came, by tap of drum enlisted, +or formed lists of them, took heartily to drilling them; and he and you +have made them this! Most potent effectual for all work whatsoever, +is wise planning, firm, combining, and commanding among men. Let no man +despair of Governments who looks on these two sentries at the Horse +Guards and our United Service clubs. I could conceive an Emigration +Service, a Teaching Service, considerable varieties of United and +Separate Services, of the due thousands strong, all effective as this +Fighting Service is; all doing their work like it--which work, much +more than fighting, is henceforth the necessity of these new ages we +are got into! Much lies among us, convulsively, nigh desperately, +struggling to be born."--("Past and Present," page 224.) + +"It was well, all this, we know; and yet it was not well. +Forty soldiers, I am told, will disperse the largest Spitalfields mob; +forty to ten thousand, that is the proportion between drilled and +undrilled. Much there is which cannot yet be organised in this world, +but somewhat also which can--somewhat also which must. When one +thinks, for example, what books are become and becoming for us, what +operative Lancashires are become; what a Fourth Estate and innumerable +virtualities not yet got to be actualities are become and becoming, +one sees organisms enough in the dim huge future, and 'United Services' +quite other than the redcoat one; and much, even in these years, +struggling to be born!"--("Past and Present," page 226.) + +"An effective 'Teaching Service,' I do consider that there must be; +some education secretary, captain-general of teachers, who will +actually contrive to get us taught. Then again, why should there not be +an 'Emigration Service,' and secretary with adjuncts, with funds, +forces, idle navy ships, and ever-increasing apparatus, in fine an +effective system of emigration, so that at length before our twenty +years of respite ended, every honest willing workman who found England +too strait, and the 'organisation of labour' not yet sufficiently +advanced, might find likewise a bridge built to carry him into new +western lands, there to 'organise' with more elbow room some labour for +himself? There to be a real blessing, raising new corn for us, +purchasing new webs and hatchets from us; leaving us at least in peace; +instead of staying here to be a physical-force Chartist, unblessed and +no blessing! Is it not scandalous to consider that a Prime Minister +could raise within the year, as I have seen it done, a hundred and +twenty millions sterling to shoot the French; and we are stopped short +for want of the hundredth part of that to keep the English living? +The bodies of the English living, and the souls of the English living, +these two 'Services,' an Education Service and an Emigration Service, +these with others, will have actually to be organised. + +"A free bridge for emigrants! Why, we should then be on a par with +America itself, the most favoured of all lands that have no government; +and we should have, besides, so many traditions and mementos of +priceless things which America has cast away. We could proceed +deliberately to organise labour not doomed to perish unless we effected +it within year and day every willing worker that proved superfluous, +finding a bridge ready for him. This verily will have to be done; +the time is big with this. Our little Isle is grown too narrow for us; +but the world is wide enough yet for another six thousand years. +England's sure markets will be among new colonies of Englishmen in all +quarters of the Globe. All men trade with all men when mutually +convenient, and are even bound to do it by the Maker of Men. +Our friends of China, who guiltily refused to trade in these +circumstances--had we not to argue with them, in cannon-shot at last, +and convince them that they ought to trade? 'Hostile tariffs' will +arise to shut us out, and then, again, will fall, to let us in; +but the sons of England--speakers of the English language, were it +nothing more--will in all times have the ineradicable predisposition to +trade with England. Mycale was the Pan-Ionian--rendezvous of all the +tribes of Ion--for old Greece; why should not London long continue the +All Saxon Home, rendezvous of all the 'Children of the Harz-Rock,' +arriving, in select samples, from the Antipodes and elsewhere by steam +and otherwise, to the 'season' here? What a future! Wide as the world, +if we have the heart and heroism for it, which, by Heaven's blessing, +we shall. + + "Keep not standing fixed and rooted, + Briskly venture, briskly roam; + Head and hand, where'er thou foot it, + And stout heart are still at home. + In what land the sun does visit + Brisk are we, what e'er betide; + To give space for wandering is it + That the world was made so wide. + +"Fourteen hundred years ago it was a considerable 'Emigration Service,' +never doubt it, by much enlistment, discussion, and apparatus that we +ourselves arrived in this remarkable island, and got into our present +difficulties among others."--("Past and Present," pages 228-230) + +"The main substance of this immense problem of organising labour, and +first of all of managing the working classes, will, it is very clear, +have to be solved by those who stand practically in the middle of it, +by those who themselves work and preside over work. Of all that can be +enacted by any Parliament in regard to it, the germs must already lie +potentially extant in those two classes who are to obey such enactment. +A human chaos in which there is no light, you vainly attempt to +irradiate by light shed on it; order never can arise there." +("Past and Present," pages 231-32.) + +"Look around you. Your world-hosts are all in mutiny, in confusion, +destitution; on the eve of fiery wreck and madness. They will not march +farther for you, on the sixpence a day and supply-and-demand principle: +they will not; nor ought they; nor can they. Ye shall reduce them to +order; begin reducing them to order, to just subordination; noble +loyalty in return for noble guidance. Their souls are driven nigh mad; +let yours be sane and ever saner. Not as a bewildered bewildering mob, +but as a firm regimented mass, with real captains over them, will these +men march any more. All human interests, combined human endeavours, +and social growth in this world have, at a certain stage of their +development, required organising and work, the grandest of human +interests, does not require it. + +"God knows the task will be hard, but no noble task was ever easy. +This task will wear away your lives and the lives of your sons and +grandsons; but for what purpose, if not for tasks like this, were lives +given to men? Ye shall cease to count your thousand-pound scalps; +the noble of you shall cease! Nay, the very scalps, as I say, +will not long be left, if you count only these. Ye shall cease wholly +to be barbarous vulturous Chactaws, and become noble European +nineteenth-century men. Ye shall know that Mammon, in never such gigs +and flunky 'respectabilities' in not the alone God; that of himself he +is but a devil and even a brute-god. + +"Difficult? Yes, it will be difficult. The short-fibre cotton; that, +too, was difficult. The waste-cotton shrub, long useless, disobedient +as the thistle by the wayside; have ye not conquered it, made it into +beautiful bandana webs, white woven shirts for men, bright tinted air +garments wherein flit goddesses? Ye have shivered mountains asunder, +made the hard iron pliant to you as soft putty; the forest-giants-- +marsh-jotuns--bear sheaves of golden grain; AEgir--the Sea-Demon +himself stretches his back for a sleek highway to you, and on +Firehorses and Windhorses ye career. Ye are most strong. +Thor, red-bearded, with his blue sun-eyes, with his cheery heart and +strong thunder-hammer, he and you have prevailed. Ye are most strong, +ye Sons of the icy North, of the far East, far marching from your rugged +Eastern Wildernesses, hitherward from the gray dawn of Time! +Ye are Sons of the Jotun-land; the land of Difficulties Conquered. +Difficult? You must try this thing. Once try it with the understanding +that it will and shall have to be done. Try it as ye try the paltrier +thing, making of money! I will bet on you once more, against all +Jotuns, Tailor-gods, Double-barrelled Law-wards, and Denizens of Chaos +whatsoever!"--("Past and Present," pages 236-37.) + +"A question arises here: Whether, in some ulterior, perhaps not +far-distant stage of this 'Chivalry of Labour,' your Master-Worker may +not find it possible, and needful, to grant his Workers permanent +interest in his enterprise and theirs? So that it become, in practical +result, what in essential fact and justice it ever is, a joint +enterprise; all men, from the Chief Master down to the lowest Overseer +and Operative, economically as well as loyally concerned for it? +Which question I do not answer. The answer, near or else far, +is perhaps, Yes; and yet one knows the difficulties. Despotism is +essential in most enterprises; I am told they do not tolerate 'freedom +of debate' on board a seventy-four. Republican senate and plebiscite +would not answer well in cotton mills. And yet, observe there too, +Freedom--not nomad's or ape's Freedom, but man's Freedom; this is +indispensable. We must have it, and will have it! To reconcile +Despotism with Freedom--well, is that such a mystery? Do you not +already know the way? It is to make your Despotism just. Rigorous as +Destiny, but just, too, as Destiny and its Laws. The Laws of God; +all men obey these, and have no 'Freedom' at all but in obeying them. +The way is already known, part of the way; and courage and some +qualities are needed for walking on it." +("Past and Present ," pages 241-42) + +"Not a May-game is this man's life, but a battle and a march, a warfare +with principalities and powers. No idle promenade through fragrant +orange-groves and green flowery spaces, waited on by the choral Muses +and the rosy Hours: it is a stern pilgrimage through burning sandy +solitudes, through regions of thick-ribbed ice. He walks among men, +loves men, with inexpressible soft pity, as they cannot love him, +but his soul dwells in solitude in the uttermost parts of creation. +In green oases by the palm-tree wells he rests a space, but anon he has +to journey forward, escorted by the Terrors and the Splendours, the +Archdemons and Archangels. All Heaven, all Pandemonium are his escort. +The stars keen-glancing from the Immensities send tidings to him; +the graves, silent with their dead, from the Eternities. +Deep calls for him unto Deep."--("Past and Present," page 249.) + + + +THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE SOCIAL QUESTION. + +The Rev. Dr. Barry read a paper at the Catholic Conference on +June 30th, 1890, from which I take the following extracts as +illustrative of the rising feeling of this subject in the Catholic +Church. The Rev. Dr. Barry began by defining the proletariat as those +who have only one possession--their labour. Those who have no land, +and no stake in the land, no house, and no home except the few sticks +of furniture they significantly call by the name, no right to employment, +but at the most a right to poor relief; and who, until the last 20 years, +had not even a right to be educated unless by the charity of their +"betters." The class which, without figure of speech or flights of +rhetoric, is homeless, landless, property less in our chief cities-- +that I call the proletariat. Of the proletariat he declared there were +hundreds of thousands growing up outside the pale of all churches. + +He continued: For it is frightfully evident that Christianity has not +kept pace with the population; that it has lagged terribly behind; +that, in plain words, we have in our midst a nation of heathens to whom +the ideals, the practices, and the commandments of religion are things +unknown--as little realised in the miles on miles of tenement-houses, +and the factories which have produced them, as though Christ had never +lived or never died. How could it be otherwise? The great mass of men +and women have never had time for religion. You cannot expect them to +work double-tides. With hard physical labour, from morning till night +in the surroundings we know and see, how much mind and leisure is left +for higher things on six days of the week? ... We must look this matter +in the face. I do not pretend to establish the proportion between +different sections in which these things happen. Still less am I +willing to lay the blame on those who are houseless, landless, and +property less. What I say is that if the Government of a country allows +millions of human beings to be thrown into such conditions of living +and working as we have seen, these are the consequences that must be +looked for. "A child," said the Anglican Bishop South, "has a right to +be born, and not to be damned into the world." Here have been millions +of children literally "damned into the world," neither their heads nor +their hands trained to anything useful, their miserable subsistence a +thing to be fought and scrambled for, their homes reeking dens under +the law of lease-holding which has produced outcast London and horrible +Glasgow, their right to a playground and amusement curtailed to the +running gutter, and their great "object-lesson" in life the drunken +parents who end so often in the prison, the hospital, and the +workhouse. We need not be astonished if these not only are not +Christians, but have never understood why they should be.... + +The social condition has created this domestic heathenism. +Then the social condition must be changed. We stand in need of a +public creed--of a social, and if you will understand the word, of a +lay Christianity. This work cannot be done by the clergy, nor within +the four walls of a church. The field of battle lies in the school, +the home, the street, the tavern, the market, and wherever men come +together. To make the people Christian they must be restored to their +homes, and their homes to them. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of "In Darkest England" by Booth + + + + +While converting the original printed book into Etext, +I noticed a couple of typographical errors within the text: +1st., at the bottom of a page within Part II, chapter V, Section 3. +The text seems to end abruptly at the end of a page which I have +marked '[sic]' + +2nd., some of the extracts from Carlyle's "Past and Present" in +the appendix did not read right. So I checked against an edition +of "Past and Present" published by Chapman and Hall Limited, 1897. +True enough they appear misquoted, so I've corrected the mistakes. + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of "In Darkest England" by Booth + Binary files differdiff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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