The Express.
London, England, 1868-04-09 00:00:00

PEE DISTRESS IN THE EAST OP LONDON.

A pnblic meeting of the friends and supporters
of the Meat London fission and Relief Society was held
yesterday at Willis's Rooms, for the purpose of hawing
dettiled accounts of the work earned on by the society
during the last five toonths,with particulars of the present
a;ate of the East or London. and the extent, cause, and
probable dunttion of the distress. Lord Hearer
ammeter presided.
The CHAIRMAN, 14 opening the proceedings, stated that
although a large number of men. women, and children had
revived food from the funds placed at the disposal of the
otnasittee, yet by far the largest part of the money had
been expended upon the sewing classes. That course had
bean adopted because it was thought desirable that the
money should not be all absolutely given away, bus that
work stould be done for it. (Hear.) The society was not
only an East London reliebcommittee, betake an East Lou-
d un mission committee, sad therefore &tile sewing Glares,
sud on different occasions. it had been a grea.ebiset is sot
(he Gospel before there perishing persons. In carrying on
this great work a vast number of ladies, both of the
East and West of London, had given great assistance an
visitor*.

Mr. Nom, read a repott, which commenced by observing
that by following the principle adopted in Lancashire
' during the cotton famine. of giving women work in sewing
ela,;es, means had been found of bringing the gospel to
numbers of persona whose destitution alone would have
. presented them from attending • church or chapel, and
mentioned, as sheering the wide interest taken in the
effort to combine religious instrurtion with temporal
r lief, that 2,300 persons had subscribed to the funds of
the society. About 1,4,0001. bad been poured into the
erehequer, including liberal contributions from Holland,
Nice, Biarritz, Cannes, Florence, and Fau, in aid of the
distress, and there had also been received large gifts of
clothing. During the pressure of the distress the average
attendances at the sewing classes bad been 20,1:1)0 weekly,
and, assuming that that represented 4,000 women, it would
appear that these classes had been the means of keeping
the wolf from the door in 4,000 houses, while they had
61.1 a more permanent effect in inculcating self-respect,
neatness, and cleanliness. With regard to the future, the
committee proposed, at the end of the Easter week, to
close every elms, and, after • short period, to select one
room in each distri:t for one class to be continued daring
the summer months for four hours on each of three days
in the week, at the rate of 2d. per boar. It was proposed
that these classes should only be open to widows with
children dependent *pen them, or women whose husbands
were in hospitals. ?Details work 5,000/. would be required,
and the oominittes appealed for subscriptions to make
up that amount. The report, in conclusion, pointed to
emigration as a means of relief, which would not only be
beneficial to those who left the country, but, by the with.
drawal of competition, would improve the condition of
those who remained. The balance-sheet stated the total
receipt, at 18,2%! , of which 718/. arose from the sale of
goods made at the sewing classes, and the expenditure at
17,5821., leaving a balance in hand of 713!.
Mr. A. KINISAII:1). M.l'., remarked that whether this
distress was temporary or not, it would teach those who
heed at the west end of the town that their responsibility
scald not be limited to relieving the few poor in their
neighbourhood. Emigration would, no doubt, be one of
, the best sources of relief, and he was happy to say that
be and Lord Overtone had banded over for that purpose
a sum of TOO/. or 8001., the balance of • former charitable
fund. He believed that a ship bad already been taken up,
and that applications might now be made for assisted pas-
sages to Cana
puechialda by
_families in distress who had not re.
oeived relief.
Mr. R. BAXTIUI attributed the distress at the East-end
to hression in the shipbuilding and silk trades, over-
building, the introduction of the sewingmachine,andthe
ronoval of sugar refining from the district. A great deal
bail been done in affording temporary relief, but the
itaionnt of destitution that still existedwas heartrending,
and the only permanent remedy was migration or emi-
gration on an extensive soak.
The meeting was subsequently addressed by the Rev.
George Barnes, missionary of St. Luke's, Bethnal-green
Mr. . Brown, one of the society's su rintendents, and
others, and the tlap ass*.
Diary vote of to ' •

AcciDENT ON ?BR 80VTII RAlL-
tear.—Yesterday morning as the 7.20 a.m. up main
for Waterloo was leaving Windier It came into collides
with an old man named John Judge, hoessen to Mr.
(:rant, a farmer, at Datohet. Judge was einiailing on the
up line, at a spot between the Thames Bridge amdDatehet,
and, as he was calling out to some met its Reid does by,
did not notice the approach of the train to new to scold
it. There is an incline here, add it le probable that if the
engine-driver did see the man than woad bore been some
difficulty in stopping the train
.befere It reached Jude,
who was knocked down and sonousbr wounded. The in-
jured man was at ease resewsed to the Wisdom terminus
on a trolly, and thence in a ay to the Windsor Royal
Infirmary, where he was attended I. b 7 Mr. Bugle, the
house surgeon. One of the ribs on *aloft side was true-
tured, the left hip woo contused, and More were three
scalp
_wounds. None of tb. Injuries an 'opposed to be of
a fatal character._

- - oari o N -iiSEA.—The amount al cotton doe at
Liverpool from the East lodise is U 8.786 all Born-
bay, and 1,851 from Madras. From New odaaae up ps,
the 20th Yank there were 68,881 bakes ah4ped • frees
New York up to the woe duty, 2,002; 20101 Balbloitsto to
March 5, 155; from Galveston to Mara 10, 8,710 Wee ;
from Kowa lop lo Ilege2 23, 0,493 heis • beim Charles-
ton. 6,053 bales • frees flavaanatekof balsa, From
lit aciru toloodoi then wave 7,269 • boot Calcutta,
204 ; Iron Ohioa, Omani es& To 1.4795; end from
Bombay an d Larrealase, 2,012 Wes
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