The Express.
London, England, 1868-02-08 00:00:00

EAST LONDON DISTRESS.

At the hat moments rsy of hope &ppm' to
have dawned for the East Londoners. The United
Executive Committee has become • fact, and the
. .

chaotic and bewildering system of indisCriminate
relief hitherto prevalent in the semi-pauperised dis-
tricts of East London is to be immediately re-

placed by a more comprehensive, discriminating,
and effectual method, to the interne disgust of
the myriads of loafers, cadgers, and others of a
like stamp, whose only resource now is to turn
" soupers," and purchase a Sunday morning break-
fast at the price of listening to a long sermon and
joining in a number of hymns sung to some
of the most popular tunes of the day, accord-
ing to the interesting and unique programme
of the East London Miadon and Relief Com-
mittee, who certainly have peculiar ideas as to the
method of affording relief to the destitute.
proper
published reports of the various meetings held
at the Cannon-street Hotel have familiarised the

Public with the views and intentions of the united
relief committees, and the energetic plan of opera-
tions decided upon by them. This amalgamation
of the various local organisations has not been
effected a moment too early, and, if the Millwall
artisans had accepted Mr. Bullivant's same of em-
ployment, we might have hoped thitee should soon
have tided over the worn and most threatening part
of the present distress. ittnother obstacle in the way
of success is the continued obstinacy of the
East London Mission and Relief' Committee
in refusing to co-operate; save ins limited degree,
with the associated committees. The need for some
stricter supervision in the administration of relief
by independent organisations becomes daily more
apparent. Tales of successful imposture are cur-
rent in every part of the distressed districts ; and
the feats of procuring unmerited assistance, of ca-
joling a relief distributor into the improper giving
of alms, is by many regarded as a thing to be ap-
plauded rather than censured. More than one
relief distributor has been publicly charged with
being incapable—utterly
_so. It is distinctly as-
serted that any poorly clad person can visit some
of this class, and, by means of falsehoods, which
the relief distributors have no means of detecting.
obtain immediate assistance in money or kind.
is said also that in one district a woman whose hus-
band is in constant work, and in receipt of 30e. per
week, obtained relief several times from one of these
distributors and that her pernicious example has
been successfully followed by several others, whose
husbands have never been out of employment, and
whose wages range from 20s. to 40s. per week. A
correspondent writing to. a local paper states that
he can mention, froni his own personal knowledge,
residing, as he does, amongst these people, " that
those persons who have obtained the relief they
ought not to have needed are the beat customers
in the neighbourhood of the public-house, and, to
use the words of some of them, ' they can spend

more money in one night than the saving man can
earn in a week.' " What other result could be anti-
cipated from the wild and reprehensible confusion
of relief systems hitherto dieting at the East-end I
Happily, this demoralising state of affairs is ap-
proaching a termination, to the great relief
of the more respectable .nd thrifty class of
artisans, who have long regarded with alarm the
ever-increasing sea of pauperism by which they
were surrounded, and which daily threatened to
engulf them. The difficulty with which the parish
authorities and relief • committees have chiefly to
contend is that of procuring suitable employ-
ment for the able-bddiediloor. They cannot
get bilond stone-breilkffig and street-sweeping.
Mr. Webster, at a rekellemllisling of the mionotilif
and trade department of the Social Science Asso-
ciation, suggested that these people should be em-
ployed in the reclamation of waste lands. This
ides has, however, already been mooted at the
East-end, and abandoned in consequence of the
legal, financial, and parliamentary difficulties
which impeded the way. For instance, in the
parish of Hackney there is a large space of
open ground, several acres in extent, sur-
rounded by &densely-populated neighbourhood, and
within easy reach of the moot crowded districts of
the East-end. This vacant space is known as
London-tickle, and has from time immemorial
been used as a recreation ground, and as a site for
holding popular open-air assemblages, especially
in times of political excitement. Its present con-
dition is most disgraceful, and even ad rons to
health. Nearly every trace of verdure has dis-
appeared, and in wet weather the surface of the
ground is covered with • series of muddy pools.
In the summer time illegal fairs are not un-
common, and when these are absent, the fields
form the rendezvous of all the roughs,
scamps, and idle vagabonds of the neigh-
bourhood, to the great annoyance, and
even terror, of the surrounding inhabitants. The
local parish authorities and many of the leading
parishioners hays been keenly alive to the neces-
sity of doing something but their hands are
tied. They would, were it possible, gain posses-
sion of the common, employ their able-bodied poor
in digging and planting its surface, and ultimately
dedicate it to the use of the people for recreational
purposes. The transformation of London-fields
into • park and recreation ground would furnish
remunerative employment to hundreds of men
resident in Poplar, Bethnal-green, Mile-end, and
other distressed parishes. But vested interests"
stand in the way. The lord of the manor cannot
build on the ground without the consent
lof the pariah, and the pariah can do
nothing without his consent, which is only to be
obtained on most exorbitant terms. In fact, it is
the case of Sir Thomas Wilson and Hampstead-
heath over again. An application to parliament
for powers of compulsory purchase would be met
by an amount of opposition entailing an expendi-
ture more considerable than the rate-payers would.
care to incur the responsibility of paying, and so,
what with difficulties here and difficulties there,
nothing is done. Now the case of London-fields
is only one of many. Were it possible for the
parishes' assisted by the Metropolitan Board of
Works, to gain possession of some of the open
spaces not infrequent at the East-end, a source
of useful employment for the destitute poor
would at once be opened up. It may be urged
that the Metropolitan Board of Works possesses
the requisite powers of action, but the law proceed-
ings m the case of Leicester-equare show them to
be nominal rather than real In Poplar the Poor-
law guardians have found an opportunity of setting
some of the poor to open-air work. The East and
West India Dock Company are fencing off apiece
of in the Isle of Doge, to be as
ens by scene of their MM. Part of the land,
• e a considerable portion of the island, is at pre-
sent under water, and *number of the unemployed
are to be entrusted with the work of digging trenches
for the purpose of draining it.

Nara.ws2 um rrtina BILL Filets PARMA-
wzrr.—Yelterdei tense= Yews. Pram sad Pillows,
the examiners el steadies eider rods el railway sad
ether privets bills dolomite& foe renaideraios olnALLhe
prawn swim, at. Is Ocantittee-roas Nw le.
over by Xr. Tare, the stendlng cordon 1111,0
have boss somplied with in the tens at the
petitimos of the New Illasiahaa Towaship
pool, Curiae. sad Newport Baihns ; the Disko Gas
(No. 1) end the Dundee Geo (Na. 2), Bills. Here
M appearance entered the parties to the
Greet Eaters Beilvey ( it am arm*
est. Tim eraiderstisa of lb. wo>rew emi Neilsereoth
asilway sad the North sad Bola WBlahlre .7... sics
saw., Bills wee postposei until the 14th insl6, sad the
Wellingborough Water Bill satil the llth belt la Xt.
Psigrea's rue* held in Gonimittearesa N. 17, the
following easpareed poses&
Great Lana Railway ; the Smith WMals Railway
&powers) ; the North British Rpeweg (Tooth River
.1%) Railway); the Bishop StertfMirDsawiew, sod Braktne
Railway ; the Calariaz
Dolgolly) ; sad the Goma v Wiz! '
tax:, Ms. The meoppeer erydel Pease I
assertion Boiling Bill was (Alarmed
Mb last., mad the opposed Bead& Oyster '
postponed rata Tueday wort.