The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-01-04 00:00:00

THE PREVAILING DISTRESS.

The following letter has been received by the rector of
Stoke Climsland, Cornwall, in answer to an appeal made by
him to the Queen for help towards the fund in aid of the
distressed miners

"Osborne, Dec. 21.
" Sir,—l wish that I could return to your distressing
appeal an answer that would be more satisfactory to
You than that I feel compelled to make. But at this
time, when equally painful reports reach me from all
Parts of the country, it is impoFsible for me to submit
the claims of onw parish before those of another. The
accounts of the distress have greatly occupied Her
Majesty's attention, and she is in constant correspond-
ence as to the best means of attempting to clleviate
the general suffering, which she deeply deplores.—l
have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
"H. PONSONBY."

The Lord Mhyor of Loudon in reply to a sugges-
tion for the formation of a Mansion House fund for
the relief of the distress in the country, has written to
Mr. Philip Cazenove expressing his belicf that a
?antral fund would render valuable and effectual help
if the public were satisfied that the state of distress
was such as to demand it; but he deems it safer at
Present not to organize such a fund. Should the dig.
tress increase, however, and should it be thought
advisable to institute a central relief organization, the
public may count upon his ready and earnest help.

The reports from nearly all the tharufacturing
towns in the kingdom show that great distress pre-
vails, requiring all the local efforts possible to cope
With it.

It has been officially announced that "the Presi-
dent of the Local Government Board, in view of
the distress existing in some parts of the country and
ita probable increase, directed th 3 particular atten-
!,lon of the general inspectors of the Board to the sub-
3ect, and requested them to watch closely the weekly
turns of pauperism, and wherever any considerable
increase was anticipated to place themselves in per-
sonal communication with the Guardians for the pur-
Pose of advising as to the measures to be adopted to
meet the emergency. At the same time, general in-
structions were conveyed to the inspectors as to the
reconaraendations to be made by them in order to in-
sure an efficient administration of relief."

On Monday the Mayor of Manchester sent the fol-
Wcring letter to the Home Secretary, in reply to a
request that he would furnish him with details as to
the prevailing distress in the district :
"Town-hall, Manchester, Dec. 28, 1878.
"Sir,—ln reply to your letter, I beg to state for the
information of the Home Secretary that this. city is expe-
riencing a period of very severe pressure, and which re-
`lutrell all our energies to cope with it. The distress does
not manifest itself conspicuously in the returns of the
Door-law guardians, as it is severely felt by a large class of
Persons who have a repugnance to making application to
the guardians, but who from the long-continued depres-
sion of trade have exhausted their resources and find it
rticult, if not impossible, to obtain employment. We have,
owever, a large body of . gentlemen who are grappling
earnestly with toe emergency and an admirable organiza-
'°tl extending over Manchester and Salford which is an
Fitension of a permanent machinery well practised in the
task of relieving poverty. As to able-bodied men whose
employment is stopped by the severity of the weather, the
F2arporation have found work for many hundreds lit clearing
the streets of snow and ice. Our local subscriptions now
mount to £11,500, and are in course of judicious distribu-
tionfrom various centres in food, coats, and bedding.
th aster a visitation at the home of each applicant ; and
°ugh there is, doubtless, much unobtrusive suffering, it
may fairly be stated that in all cases where the sufferers
come forward and make known their wants, aid is within
• reach. The estimated total number of persons now re-
ZillvitiZ relief in Manchester and Salford is about 65,000, of
orn 8,500 are relieved by the guardians of AL whester
township, which constitutes a union in itself, awns,. 4,800
t
this date last year • but it, may bc taken that 19.000 are
receiving relief from sthe guartliaits in the three Unions of
a
hchester, Salford, and Choriton. The remainder are
relieved
by the voluntary assistance of this community.
NotoUld be said that in addition to the efforts of the
Manchester and Salt'rd District Provident Soc'ety, almost
every church and chapel has its devoted band of visitors,
iTeKing out and in various ways working for cases in its own
ealitY It would be rash to predict the duration of our
'PresentiC endition, or whethtr it wlb be baler or worse ; but
citizens of Manchester are corn ng forward most nubl
wiey
di money and personal help, and the all but unanimous
Sentiment prevailing is that Manchester eliDuld I,e up
anAluyally alleviating its own distress befere
13()--"ng outarde assistance.—l have the honour to be, Sir,
your
most obedient servant, 'O. S. GRUNDY, Mayor."
-14°11. A. S.. 0. Liddell.

hci,k. Meeting of the S'ieffield Relief Fund Committee was
f on Monday, when the telegram received by the Mayor
..r.°M the Home Secretary was read and considered The
"aYor stated that upon the receipt of the telegram he issued
a circular to the chairmen of the district relief committees,
"king them to furnish returns as to the extent of the die-.
tress in their various districts, in order that the informa-
tion
Might be forwarded to the Home Secretary as early
aS PoBsible. Several of the chairmen of these district
committees were now pre3eut, and they were asked to
give their opinions as to the extent of the distress and
the Means for meeting it. Tne Rev. J. E. Johnson, vicar of
St- Judo's, Moortields, said in his district there was a diver-
-BitY of opinion whether the distress was on the increase, but
be had no doubt that such distress as did exist would be
adeglistely met by local effort, and that there was no
~
—ece"itY for Government assistance. A similar opinion
17 WI expressed by the Rev. Dr. Putter; the Rev. J. 11.
Draper, All Saints, Bright side, in whose district the dis-
tress
Others.
is the most severe' the Rev. R. Douglas, and
the dis The opinion generally entertained was that though
tress was very severe, there was no .reason to
doubt but that local efforts, assisted by the contributions
Of benevolent persons in various parts of the country,
yreoutd be sufficient. A report embodying this opinion will'
b forwarded mto the Hoe Secretary. On the suggesti,n
of Mr. Mark Firth, it was urged that as we are now in the
ddle of winter, and January is generally the coldest month
the Year, the operations of the various district corn
rut.
ttees should be as literal and as vigorous as possible
!_he re was a discussion on Vie question of endeavouring to
employment for able-bodied men on public works,
sub-c mtuitteee was appointed to endeavour to f,y"in
Et!Ch enlpl pneilt. The committee authorised the sp:4-S,log
Of £l5 in the purchase of hammers to be used in the 'creak-
!_og of stone The chairman of the Highway Committee
it feported that 2,000 tons of atone had been purchased, that
would be placed in various parts of the town, and that it
ould find emp'o)meut for a number of men in breaking it
or highway purposes.

- -
On Tuesday morning the Mayor of Sheffield received
a considerable sum of money from various parts of the
country tot the relief of distress. There is every
reason to believe that in a short time the full amount
of £lO,OOO, which the Mayor has estimated will at

pr !sent be required, will have been obtained. Reports
from various committees show that with the exception
of the Brightside districts the distress is not iucreasing,
A free breakfast to 1,000 men and women will be given
by a private gentleman on Saturday. Much satisfac•
tion was caused in the town by the receipt of the
following letter :
"Arundel Cite, Dec. 28.

"My dear Sir,—l wish very much to be of any use I can
in helping those who are tre log to lessen the great distress
from whieitso many of she people of Sheffiel.l are iniw
suffering. I intend, therefore, to come to Slit Wield as EMI
as I can, and I write to you now (to-day) that I hope you
allow use to .j sin the committee which you have
'ormeti. Ido not h pe that my presence on it can he of
iny service to you, tut you will understand how anxious I
am to show b) any means in my power the heartfelt sym-
pAthy I feel with those who are suffering under the gri'at
troubles through which Sheffield is DOW pessing. The
Duchess wishes me to say Low very deeply she regrets that
sha cannot come with me, but she is suffering from thee
effects of the late c •id weather, and is not allowed to go
out, Believe me, yours very truly, NORFOLK."
The fact that Imperial aid will not be required to
deal with the distress at present prevailin4 in SM.
field has caused great satiJaction in the town. The
employment of women at the sewing depot, and
the scheme for tngaging a large number of unemployed
on relief works is reducing the amount of distress, and
the drain on the Mayor's Relief Fund will not be so
great in future.

In reply to the inquiry by the Home Secretary as to the
extent of the distrtss in Birmingham, the Mayor (Alder-
man Collings ;has written saying that he does not think
the amount of actual destitution 1.5 so great in Birmingham
as it is in some of the other large industrial towns ; but
there is no doubt a great deal of poverty and distress, arid
many cases of painful suff,ring existing in the borough.
The most active measures are being taken to ascertain the
exact c,ndition of the town, and a fund 13 being provided
to give such relief as may be needed. In conclusion the
Slayor observes that the liberal contributions to his fund up
to the present time warrant him in saying that local efforts
will be quite sufficient for the relief of such distress as may
be lound in the borough.

No fewer than 5,000 persons have been relieved in Barrow
durin4 the past week I.y tee licensed victuallers of the town,
who have op,ned a &nip kitchen. Soup and other relief is
also iristributed by Mr U. Shaw and othere, ana a charity
soganization society, under the auspices of the Mayor, is
doing a good work among the distreseed.
. The Mayor of Burnley, replying to the Home Secretary's
in ,uiry with reference to the distress in Burnley, ecnclitdes
its letter as follows :—" The must effectual way in which the
Government can aid us is by putting an immediate stop to
the war in A fglianistau, the cost of which, wheth-r laid
upon England or upon India, alike paralyzes our trade by
curtailing the purchash g power of our customers. Even
The Times' City Article on Saturday groans under the weary
burden of wars and foreign complications which drain away
our resources and prevent all Leathful development of our
commerce."
The Mayor of Leicester has replied to an inquiry from the
Home Secretary as to the amount of distress in Leicester,
stating that, notwithstanding the depression of trade and
the enforcing of reduced wages and short time, he is happy
to report that owing to the increasing provident h3bits of
the artisans, coupled with the variety of manufactures now
carried on in the town, he did not anticipate any unusual
amount of distress—certainly not more than local means
were- capable of grappling with.
The number of unemployed in the city of Glasgow now
approaches 8,000, and, including dependents, the number in
receipt of relief is about 25,000 or 30,000. The list is in-
creasing at the rate of 500 a week. On Tuesday night the
Lord Prevost of the city, the Hon. William Collins, enter-
tained to tea at his own expense about 10,000 of those in re-
ceipt of relief. The gathering was held in various halls
throughout the city. After tea a concert was given in the
several meeting places and as:dresses delivered by several
of the leading citizen.

The Mayor of Bolton, in his reply to the Home Secretary's
circular respecting the distress, says that in the week end', g
December 213 t the gusrdians dealt with 2 515 ca,e., against
1,410 la 4 year. The Poor Proteciion Society relieved 1200,
cases last we k, and 1,000 the previous week. Subscriptioi's
are fl )wit,g in, and he h,,pes to meet the distrers without
aid from outside boroughs