The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-25 00:00:00

THE HOUSELESS POOR.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sia—l beg leave once more to trouble y,,u with a few re-
marks respecting the Houseless l'uo;. A. out a month ago a
paragraph appeared in your Paper of a weting being held at
the Mausion House, of the Committee of the Institution fur
the Houseless Poor, stating that a general meeting of the
subscribers was to be called about the middle of January, and
a report laid before them. Not having seen any advertise-
ment in any paper for the calling such meeting, or heard of
any such meeting taking place, and the Asylum for the
Houseless not being yet opened, and January drawing to a
close, permit roe, Sir, to ask a few questions as to this Institution,
through your valuable Journal. First, what is the meaning
of this delay ? Is there no destitute persons this winter, who
stand in need of nightly shelter? Or, have the Society no
funds to dispose of ? Or, have the Committee undertaken a
task they cannot accomplish ; and have now just discovered
that this Institution, in the way it has hitherto been conducted,
produces greater evil than good ? For at present the Com-
mittee appear to be paralyzed as to their exertions, and are
idle spectators to the mass of misery there is at the present
time among the poor in this great metropolis; and if report
speaks true, with a fund of somewhere about 10,0001. at their
disposal. If it is not the intention of the Committee to open
the Asylum again, why not announce the fact, and dispose of
the funds in some other way for the benefit of the poor, for
whose use it was subscribed ?

The Committee are well aware that when the Asylum was
open, it was inflicting a serious evil on the-inhabitants of the
parish of St. Luke, by causing a great number of casual poor
to be thrown a burden on that parish. I now ask, if they are
aware that the Asylum not being open is also a serious evil, inas-
much as the poor, from all quarters, make their way to the
spot in Playhouse yard to see if it is open, and very many, by
so doing, become casual paupers on the parish of St. Luke,
which, in these feverish times, the parish-officers, with all their
vigilance and humanity, are in many cases at a loss how to act
in justice to the poor and the rate-payers?
It was a most unfortunate thing for the parish of St. Luke
that the Houseless AsylKin was ever removed from the most
opulent city in the world to their overburdened poor parish.
If the Committee are at a loss how to dispose of the funds in
band, I appeal to the Committee and to the subscribers at
large, if it would be any more than an act of strict justice, if
they were to remit a few hundred pounds to the parish of
St. Luke, as a compensation for the (no doubt unintentional)
injury inflicted on that parish, in consequence of the Houseless
Asylum ? At the present time they are inundated with casual
paupers from all parts of the kingdom, from the cause before
stated ; therefore justice demands some explanation from the
Committee as to the course they mean to pursue (and that
without delay), and not hoard up the funds at a time when
provision of every kind is at a starvation price, and hundreds,
nay, thousands, of their poor fellow-creatures are perishing in
this great metropolis for the want of the common necessaries
of life, who are buffetted about from place to place under this
new cruel Poor-law Act, until they are eat up with disease
and wretchedness, and many relieved by death.
Your's respectfully,
RICHARD WARD,
Guardian of the Poor.

27, Banner. street,
Jan. 23, 1839.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—We observe that a paragraph from the Brighton Ga-
2ette has appeared in most of the London Papers, which states
that the Christmas cake sent by her Majesty to her Royal
Fl>ghtiess the Princess Augusta was a present from G,rmany.
You will oblige us by contrmdicting this statement, as the cake
was manufactured by ourselves, and it is calculated to do us
an injury by depriving us of the credit that is our due, from
the pleasure testified by her Majesty on its reception.
We remain, Sir, your obedient servants,
W S. WALKER and Co.
51, Pall-mall, Jan. 23, 1839.