The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-15 00:00:00

The Poor and the City Improvements.

gljppuplleerd Thames-
street, n f or
Yesterday a deputation of the chief inhabitants of
ames-
the Metropolitan
waited upon
thest htree parisheseAti,thensi
ohn about the
f_etshwct
eacdtihi
ris;aieenr district
oveofei
being
nent,
BSiorajrd. lo.fh;viaroitresks', to urge upon his consideration the
claims to compensation of the poor people, some
1,100 or 1,200 of whom were being evicted from the
courts, alleys, and streets of that district. The depu-
tation was introduced by Mr. Geo. Cruikshank, who
said that the overcrowding caused by the evictions
now taking place in the metropolis would, he feared,
give rise to immorality and disease to an extent to
be a national calamity. Mr. L. Banks, the hon. sec-
retary of the Evicted Tenants' Association, read a
memorial. This set forth that there were some 300
families being evicted for this improvement, and the
classes so evicted were such as obtained their liveli-
hood in that immediate spot ; and, removed from
there, they would be reduced to such extreme po-
verty as to become a burden upon the poor-rates. It
had been found that there was not sufficient house
room to accommodate 10 per cent. of those turned
from their homes ; and, under these circumstances,
those who had to remove to entirely uew districts
had a moral claim to compensation, especially when
it was considered that they had to give up their set-
tlements, and their children lost the advantages of
free schooling which they obtained where they were.
Mr. C. Clark acknowledged the fairness with which
the Board's officers
met all legal claims, and then
proceeded to urge various facts in favour of the me-
morial. He urged that the poor should have
some little compensation,
so as to give them
the means of paying the deposits they had to make
when entering upon the occupancy of new rooms.
The Rev. Mr. Chase stated that the Board
had kindly given the tenants leave to live in the
houses, after the various property had passed
into the possession of the Board, rent free, and
the old landlords, hearing of this, had deprived the
poor people of this benefit by
coming and claiming
an amount as back rent. Dr. Clapton said he
had acted as honorary surgeon to these poor dis-
tricts, and, finding the people ill and their children
unhealthy through the crowded state of the places,
he had repeatedly urged them to move, and the
answer he always obtained was that if they moved
from there they lost the benefit of the ward and
National Schools, and the " gifts" to which they
were entitled as citizens living there. These benefits,
by these forced removals, the people entirely lost.
The Rev. Dr. Stebbing, the rector of several parishes
in this district, acknowledged the great benefit of
this improvement, and urged that it would be less
them from the parish, than to reduce them to
expensive to compensate these people, and so keep

pauperism, and make burdens upon the rates, as
would be the case if they were turned upon the
world to seek fresh homes and fresh means of liveli-
hood. Mr. W. Taylor and several of the evicted
tenants themselves addressed Sir John Thwaites.
One said he had given all the money he was pos-
sessed of to go into a cookshop, and by his business
he supported a wife, seven children, and an aged
mother. If the new street were not going to be
made he could sell his business, but now he-should
have to turn out without anything, and he knew
not what he should do. Another said he was a
" citizen of London by birth" and had brought up a
family respectably. He knew not where to turn
when his house came down, for his " connexion" of
some years' standing would be gone, and he
should have no compensation, as he was only a weekly
tenant. Sir John Thwaites, in reply, expressed 1)6
hearty sympathy for the suffering people, and con-
curred with the views of those who considered the
people should be compensated, and he said he was sure
his colleagues thought with him. The Board had
earnestly considered all the questions connected with
the subject, and their desire to deal gently with the
poor could be seen in the fact that the work of de-
molition had been delayed until the summer
months, for one thing, and the Board had allowed
the tenants to remain, rent free, as long as possible,
so as to give them an indirect compensation, the
Legislature not sanctioning any other compensation
than to those who had legal claims. The Board
had certainly given compensation in some cases,
but this was at the risk of being surcharged,
and having to pay the money out of their own
pockets. As to the question of improvements, he
was astonished, on going over this place, to find
such a place in the city of London, and he could not
help thinking that the spot ought to have been dealt
with before. The manner in which the poor people
were housed in this part of the city of London was
bad in the extreme--the rooms were greatly over-
crowded, and the sanitary condition of the places
was wretched. The Board had in no case acted as
other public bodies acted towards weekly tenants,
namely, by giving them a week's notice, and then
taking possession of their places, but had in all cases
given them a month's notice, and he deeply re-
gretted that the landlords who had held the property
before it came into the Board's possession had de-
prived the poor people of the value of the rooms for
a few weeks by claiming back rent. He assured
the deputation again of his warm sympathy with the
poor, and said the subject should receive the atten-
tion of his colleagues. The deputation thanked Sir
John Thwaites and withdrew.