The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-24 00:00:00

A •' Benevolent" Balance-sheet•

While the magnificent institutions of this countrif
devoted to the rich, the poor, and the ii&rni,
every elass, are a source of just pride to our fell the
countrymen, and contrast very favourably with
official charity of the " Bureaux de Bienfaisane'n's
to which the wretched of the Continental nati°oo
turn perforce in their misery, there is one
feature to which the warmest admirers ,;ch
our system cannot point without regret, w,e
on a memorable occasion furnished Mr. Glacit°ii
with the materials for one of his most superb Pilibr:
pies, and which called forth M a succession of Ai-eel%
ing letters, the caustic satire of "S.G. 0. in
post
ks
Times. We allude to the cost at which these We'n
of benevolence are too often carried on. This t
afterer
may be, and often is, unavoidable, but it is,
all, poor consolation to those who subscrwer
their annual guinea to be told that fifty P t
cent. of it is needed in order to secure the efficiell.3
and honest distribution of the remainder. There It
no reason why the officials of a charity should net
be as well remunerated as the workers in anY ettbie;
institution. Work that is ill paid is too frequen,"3
ill done, but the regret remains that so costi_f.Y.
machinery should be required to bring the free Vt,
of the donor to the aid of the necessitous recipiellet
It is therefore with sincere pleasure that we area
attention to a report in our columns of to-daY
the Provident Clerks' Benevolent Fund. oyero
objects none can speak without sympathy for tivi
are few, if any, in this great commercial centre Nod
are not in some way indebted to the abiiat
the
honesty of the class from it takes its na attention
feature to which we would call particular
ha ity (for
is the fact that the whole expenses of the e- r
eluding
such in its noblest sense it really 10 ill / bero,
the cost of an annual election by 4,000 subserivtio,,
and every other disbursement made by the e
ditur
amounts but to i 385175. Bd. (!),by which e%Per,e of
the Fund is entirely managed, and an incowe
rep
nearly £3,400 is obtained. Thus, as the %Poe
says, " Very nearly 90 PER CENT. of the gross in the
is devoted strictly to the benevolent purPeses of the
" Fund." We are aware that the Institution PePSere
very -great advantages, which would render
fain jp,
per tentage comparison with similar ones fool
the "houseroom" afforded by a wealthy life' Fund
whose directors and secretary render to the thus
their gratuitous services, in the facility 605
afforded for collecting the very small contrihnost
of the members—all of whom, be it obserirecil 000
have been in some shape contributors to its 11140 it
before they can claim its aid—and in other svt ge'
s greatly benefited ; but even this would i„noper
count for an accumulation which renders tevern'
sions granted by the fund as secure as a "41,;
ment annuity, had not the economy of
nagement been combined with energy and n"
,11s of
We have spoken on many previous oeensileeenr
the strong claims of the Fund, and we again
1s one
mend them to our readers ; but there f the
circumstance adverted to in the report ospeciai
past year which merits a few words of 100°
notice—viz., the donation of five hundred „.Pe„,setie!
the fund by the Hon. Rustomjee d3:it iva7
Jejeebhoy, of Bombay. We are aware that ad'
Cralv „0,5
to the discriminating kindness of Mr.
tun t
M.P., that the apportionment of this 5, OP
directly owing ; but there can be no doubt ti'3„ Ole
gentleman was guided by what he knew or eon
true intentions of the munificent donor, lin" Base
he have selected a more deserving recipient' eoloss:a
on commercial enterprise a portion of the
estop'
fortune made by the giver was well "eratieva
in aid of a class without whose aid the ofLiii an
of commerce would be limited indeed. D7j, )11."
fun ,at
justly spoke the long-tried friend of the 01a
John Abel Smith, on Wednesday, when he aier'
dhi t
no period have such profits been realised it 00,0 ,r
chants as during the past few years ; andlas
but be that while such a fund as this nee vio-
aid, the world-wide charity of the gene , tio Der
will find some imitators among the Chris
chants of England. are to nd
Twelve more pensions, we learn, clerks
given during the current year to aged ups r Ate
widows; and the fact that the assistaneeustiftes
dered is of a permaneut character, fully 3 t of tlieg
policy of the management in reserving ell
'
annual income a good portion to wee-
4-, the

thus incurred.
WILLIAM WEAVER CHARGED WITII 13
Tuesday evening evening the popular preacher!, ' j3t 00:
wasch arrested
arglecetuofreb, bigamy. It I°3l-tsillial"
announced to at St. George's-hall, Iv est a beef
with, on'
twlteea
both male and female, attended to hear his e:c1;3°0,5,101,
Just as he had
and Smith concluded Police-sergeants Lester', ,DO
between 400 appears
611:0 11;115;it;
stepped upon the platform, and, chasPrlca Di
with bigamy,
arrested him on the spot, Ile derast!_,,,,er
geant authority Lester he was taken into custody', and polliocriair
trate, to th read the warrant, signed by 9' 10C91 ~,,,r V
e assembled people. Amidst great 11131. vtitli
was removed to the vestry, where he was confrontect` tics
a woman said to be his wife and a child, who he acotie°
disowned. He was then removed to the police "f veo•
through the b owa 0 ' oe,
ye streets, followed by a large cr .
aoco
,r
ple, some ex •
pressing their conviction of Ws lii,
_, tliel,
while
opinioothers were no less vociferous in utterievop 0
\Vest uefhisguilt. Weaver, who lies in the lec%trate4
Bromich, will be brought before the
local` xng'
to-morrow.

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