The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECOIDER 13, 18G9

hoped to cheat death by handing down his name to
endless generations. There was,.for instance, a cer-
tain Mr. SMITH, who left his estates, which now
bring in about £15,000 a year, nearly £7,000 of which
goes to his descendants, the rest to the poor of certain
parishes. The first amount is claimed by relatives
in the tenth remove, some of them in order to
pay for a trip to the sea-side, some to
pay for a daughter's music-mistress, some to
purchase a piano, some to defray an ex-
travagant undertaker's bill. As for the other
portion, it is claimed by one-third of the population
of East Grinstead, by one-half of that of Kingston,
and by two-thirds of that of Farnham. Vagrants
and idlers go to live in these towns in order that they
may get without work the money which should be
the reward of industry. For a proof of the degrada-
tion which such endowments induce we have only
to read the disclosures before the Election Com-

missioners at Beverley.
It is, however, not of posthumous charity that we
wish more particularly to speak to-day. It is of the
alms given to the poor by the living hand. They are
given either through societies, or personally. The
relief funds for alleviating the distress at the East-
end of London have, it is now admitted, done far
more harm than good. An energetic clergyman,
in a parish of Whitechapel, who of course
would naturally welcome aid from wealthy
Paddington and Belgravia, as a means of
relieving him from a great embarrassment—has de-
clared that the West End has demoralised the East
End. The residents of the latter district now feel
so certain that they will get money during the weeks
they are out of work, that, however high their wages,
they never save. The guardians refuse tc'
levy rates which they, among others, will have to
pay, because the West End will supply them with
the necessary funds. They indeed are not wholly
without excuse. So long as the rates are not
equalised, so long a the poor parishes have to pay 3s.
in the pound, while the rich parishes pay only Gd.,
it is but natural that the guardians of the first should
allow the ratepayers of the second to compensate
voluntarily for the deficiency of legal taxation. But
the evil works in far other and more mischievous
ways. It was found that during the very height of
the destitution at Poplar and Milwall, houses were
better occupied than usual, because idlers had
swarmed into the district in order to partake of the
flow of good things which came from the West. Even
here the mischief does not end. The money subscribed to
the relief funds was frequently bestowed by religious
sectaries, who with coin gave spiritual advice, and
with the blanket a tract. Rival religionists would
sometimes follow in each other's wake, and display
great indignation when they found that unorthodox
tracts had been administered. The recipients soon
learnt to hide these, and to receive money from as
many different quarters as possible. Thus the gros-
sest hypocrisy was often engendered.
Then, lastly, there is the personal form of charity.
This is almost wholly mischievous so long as money
is given without inquiry. We have heard it said
by a London parochial clergyman of a quarter of a
century's experience that district visitors do more
harm than good because of their desire to act the
Lady Bountiful. If this is the case where charity is
bestowed under some sort of supervision and organi-
tion, it may be easily imagined that mischief
must follow indiscriminate almsgiving in the
streets. As a rule,. 99 out of every 100 beggars
are impostors. Some persons will say, better give
improperly to 09 rogues than withhold improperly from
one starving person. There is no need to do either.
If only every town would adopt the principle of the
various mendicity societies in London, we should
soon be rid of impostors. For instance, the old
Society for the Suppression of Mendicity, which
has its office in Red Lion-square, London,
gives tickets to subscribers of one-guinea, for
them to distribute -to street beggars. If a beggar
is an impostor, he will not use the ticket, but will
probably swear at you for giving if. If his is a
genuine case of distress, he will take the ticket to the
society, which will investigate his case at once,
and, on finding it worthy of relief, will give
him lodging money for one night, and perhaps
a meal. The society has premises where
it sends its applicants to chop wood and pick
oakum, and during the time they are employed, men
receive Gd. and women 4d. a day for lodging money,
and two meals, and one meal for each member of the
family. On Saturdays there is a double allowance of
money with an extra meal to take home, so that
there may be no excuse for Sunday begging. At
the end of a week the order for work may
be renewed until the applicant has been employed
for a month, when he is discharged, unless the com-
mittee should decide that there is reason for renewing
the arrangement. Sturdy vagrants just arrived in
London are not relieved. A. register is kept of
all beggars, and all details relating to them
are duly entered. There is also a begging
letter department, and every subscriber of two
guineas is entitled to have any application
enquired into, relief being left to the subscriber.
This society has been established about fifty years,
and during that time 55,334 registered cases have been
disposed of, and 3,749,184 meals have been distri-
buted. The society is in constant communication
with the several metropolitan parishes, hospitals, and
dispensaries, with a view to provide for necessitous
and afflicted persons. During the above period
48,644 vagrants have been apprehended by constables
employed by the society, and 27,853 have been con-
victed. Recently similar associations have been
formed in the suburbs of London with the best
result. It must surely be possible to extend this
system to the provinces. One of the most benefi-
cent acts of charity which could be performed at this
season would be to set such an organisation on
foot.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURI.-7his Day.

THE RECORDER'S CHARGE.

The winter sessions cnmmenced this morning at
the Central Criminal Court. The total number of
cases for trial is 55, comprising the following :
Murders, 1 ; manslaughter, 1 ; burglary, 6 ; wound-
ing feloniously, 1 ; forgery, 4.
The learned Recorder said, on charging the grand
jury, the most important was a charge of wilfu
murder against Catherine, Coomber, a widow, wLo
was charged with having murdered her infant
child, and the question for the jury to consider was
whether the child had died through the wilful ne-
glect of the woman or not. The only other
charge of an offence affecting human life was
against Walter Frazer, for the manslaughter of
a man named Horne, and it would be for the jury
to say whether or not the injury which resulted in
death was sustained at the hands of the prisoner.
The learned Recorder concluded his charge by re-
marking that the majority of the remaining charges
were for unlawfully uttering counterfeit coin,
and the grand jury were then dismissed to their
labours.

THE EXECUIION 'IHE WOOD-GREEN
.31URDERER.

The execution of the culprit, Frederick Hinson,
for the double murder at Wood-green, took place
this morning at nine o'clock, the Secretary of state
having made a communication to the gaol authori-
ties, in answer to the memorial sent to him on the
prisoner's behalf, to the effect that he cannot find
any circumstances of mitigation in the case such as
would justify him in recommending the prisoner to
the clemency of the Crown.
Since his conviction the culprit seems to have
been upon several occasions in a state of great ex-
citement ; and, notwithstanding the earnest endea-
vours of the Rev. Mr. Jones, the ordinary of New-
gate, to bring him to a proper sense of his condition,
it is to be feared that he has not been successful,
as the culprit was evidently under an impression,
which it seemed almost impossible to remove, that
he was perfectly justified in committing the dread-
ful acts of destroying the life of the woman with
whom he cohabited, and whom he persists in v.,-
garding as his wife, and the man who he considers
was guilty of adultery with her. It has been quite
in vain to remind him that it was quite impossible
for the wretched woman who lost her life to have
stood in the relation to him of his wife, in-
asmuch as he had a legal wife still living.
He still insisted upon his having a right

to regard her as his wife, and evidently seemed
to think that he has not been guilty of any
etnne in destroying her for her supposed infidelity,
and he has upon several occasions quoted passages
from Scripture for the purpose of showings that he
was justified in taking the life of an adulterer. It
will be remembered that it was proved at the trial
that the prisoner had a wife, who, it appears is liv-
ing in Scotland, and from whom he was separated
shortly before he became connected with the
murdered woman, Maria Death. His mother-in-
law has visited him during the last week, but
it was evident that she did not entertain a
very kind feeling towards him, for it would
seem that almost immediately upon her enter-
ing his cell she began to upbraid him w;th
the dreadful crime he had committed, and
the culprit, actuated, no doubt, by the feeling Le-

fore mentioned, was about to retort in a manner
not at all befitting his awful position, but the offi-
cials present, seeing what was likely to occur, and
the unseemly scene that would probably take place,
very prudently put a stop to it by removing the
visitor, and the prisoner, who seemed a good deal
excited by what had taken place, was some time
before he recovered his composure. Since the
conviction of the prisoner he had been visited
by his father, his brother, and his sister, but
his mother did not see him until Friday aft r-
noon, and the interview between her and her
unh .ppy son appears to have been of a west
painful character. The prisoner was a tall and very
powerful and muscular man, and from the state
of mind in which he appeared to be, some apprehen-
sion was entertained that he might make some
desperate effort to resist the carrying out of the sen-
tence. It will be recollected that something of this
kind occurred a year or two ago upon the occasion
of the execution of a man named Wiggans, for the
murder of a woman with whom he cohabited at the
east end of the town, the culprit making a despe-
rate effort to prevent the executioner from placing
the rope round his neck when upon the scaffold, and
the exertions of several of the warders of the pri-
son were required to restrain the culprit until the
drop fell.
The two children, one of whom was legitimate,
and the other the survivor of the family by Maria
Death, have been provided for by a gentleman,
named Morgan, who resides at Wood-green, and
who knew the prisoner, and have been placed in
school at Wood-green.
The sheriffs, Sir J. Causton and Sir J. Vallentin,
arrived at the prison shortly before nine o'clock.
When the prisoner saw Calcraft he addressed him,
" Good morning, Mr. Calcraft," and at this time
he exhibited a good deal of firmness, which, how-
ever, forsook him shortly afterwards. W hen the
platform fell the culprit appeared to be dead almost
in an instant.

POLICE IN2ELLIGENCE.-2hts Day.

THAMES.

THE QUEEN " FRIENDLY" SOCIETY AGAIN.— Thomas
Strickland, a poor man, living in Canrobert-street, Bethnal
green, who has been paying sd. a week for some time past
to an agent of the Queen Friendly Society on behalf of
himself and three' children, made a complaint that he
had been defrauded of his money by an agent of the
society, which had suspended operations. The offices
were closed, the place advertised to be let, and the secre-
tary, treasurer, committee all wine, no one knew where.
He bad paid his contributions for himself and children
regularly, and now he was informed the Queen Friendly
Society was a mockery, a snare, and a delusion. There
were persons in and near the street where he lived who
bad been paying their weekly contributions, and were in
the same position, and it was a very hard case on the poor
who had been defrauded.

Mr. Paget could only once more regret his inability to
assist the sufferers. •
Mr. Odell, the second usher, said that John Mooney,
calling himself the secretary of the society, had forwarded
a letter from Birmingham to a poor woman dwelling in
Stepney, who was entitled to £lO on the death of her hus-
band, and the letter enclosed a Post-office order for 195.
only.
Mr. Paget said there was no doubt the attention of the
authorities in Birmingham would be called to the matter
if anything wrong was attempted there.
Mr. Gron, the secretary of the East London Provident
Association, a respectable and flourishing Benefit Society,
in existence 25 years, and which contains among its mem-
bers many seafaring persons, and longshore artisans and
mechanics, said the society, whose offices wore at No. 6,
Arbour-terrace, Commercial-road, Stepney, had been put
to great inconvenience and annoyance, owing to the
circumstance that the fraudulent benefit society called the
Queen had been held at No. 6, Colet-place, in the
same road, a quarter of a mile from Arbour-terrace.
People had confounded the two societies together. He
bogged leave to state that the East London Provident
Association had always promptly met allits engagements,
did not employ any collectors or agents, possessing a capi-
tal of £ll,OOO well invested. It had not the most remeto
connection with the Queen, and repudiated the swindle
altogether. Mr. Gron added that shameful frauds by the
agents and collectors of the Queen Friendly Society had
been practised on the poor.