The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-12 00:00:00

LOA' DO.N, FRIDAY, FEB. 12, 18C9.

The question of our national pauperism is becom-
ing too important to be knger overlooked or slighted.
The actual returns of in and out-door paupers indeed
may be less this year than last, owing to the remark-
able mildness of the season, but the standing army of
destitution is so large that any variation in the num-
ber of recruits affects but slightly the strength of its
battalions. Undtr these circumstances the con-
sideration of how best to resist its encroach-
ments, how best to turn to account those re-

sources which are at our command to meet it
becomes imminent. The sums annually expended
in this country for the relief of poverty and suf-
fering are very great. They arc not unworthy in
their munificence of the wealthiest nation in the
world, nor unbefitting the generosity of a people who
have always been prompt to answer any appeal
for aid. Setting aside the City of London
charities, in the metropolis alone over two
millions are annually expended for benevo-
lent objects, and this vast amoaut does not in-
clude parochial charities. Mr. lltcKs has throw❑
valuable light on a very complex and difficult subject
by his admirable synopsis of the charitable institu-
tions of London, published in the Times of yesterday,
and we hope that the issue of this remarkable state-
went will be only the first step towards a thorough
and se arching &port of all our national charities. It
will be of immense service to the institutions them-
selves to put their claims fairly before the public, and
to ascertain where and how the waste exists which
undoubtedly does exist, else we should not have so
much real and pinching distress in our midst in spite
of this flood of charity. One great reason for it, no

doubt, is to be found in the total
want
Mr. HICKS comments upon the want of
g system.
Mr
.
tion there is in such efforts, and the consequent less
o r sm.
of power. Benevolence overflows in one placie,, sasstotlie
impoverishment of several others. " Every
Mr. lIIcKs, " wishes to create a litt:e circle round
his own particular hobby, and resists ...Itlehan
invites co-oporation from those around him." 1
Seine
other features in this synopsis deserve particular
mention. We notice that several wealthy•charitie3,
such as Guy's Hospital and St. Thomas's llospital,
give no report of their income and expenditure.
Other reports are unsatisfactory in their form, as
when the practice is followed of deducting the cost of
collection from the amount received, instead of
charging it among the regular expenses,
or when ex-
penses belonging to one year are carried over to the
next. Some of the returns are given with admir-
able lucidity, and there can be no reason why all
should not be managed in the same clear, orderly,
and business-like method.
Mr. HicKs has divided the charities into seven
classes. In considering the question of pauperism
we may set aside Class E altogether, as belonging to
the professional classes, such as institutions for the
widows and families of military or naval men,
and the various associations for the relief
of the poorer clergy. We may fairly
ask, however, whether so large a
sum as
£413,428, should annually be absorbed by this class,
leaving, as we know, so much genteel poverty, the
hardest to bear of all, still unassisted? Our Church,
our Army, and our Navy, can certainly afford to pay
their members sufficiently to enable them to support
their families respectably, and provide for them de-
cently, and if they do not do so now, they should
amend their accounts until these three professions, at
least, no longer require so much supplementary aid
from the public. I

Infancy, which is the first of Mr. Uteri's divisions,
takes £52,000 from the sum total, and it is notice-

able that nearly the whole of this is demanded for

orphanages. In class B, for childhood, £227,000 are

expended, and again the orphanages consume a large

proportion, £79,000. We should like to see two of

he items in this list considerably enlarged. They

,re both of modern institution, and both meet cry-

They are for country and sea homes, and
'or the dinner tables, which, both toge-

lg wants.

,her, take less than £3,500.

Education employs

£2,500, but Refuges for the Destitute take £75,000.

Class C, dealing with the evils and afflictions inci-
dent to manhood and Is onanhood, reveals a mourn-

'el picture of the

" painful family of Death
Moro hideous than their queen."
We must remember that from the general hospitals,
reckoned in this list at an outlay of £215,000, the
two wealthy City hospitals are omitted. It is grati-
fying to find the very highest item in this class is
that of the book societies, which actually amounts
to over £237,000. Old age only consumes £25,000,
which it divides between almshouses and pensions.