The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 13, 1866.

did not know whether the Government would do
more than offer a £6 franchise for boroughs and a
£lO for counties, and if they carried that a good
many Liberals would think they had got a great
thing. For himself, he candidly owned, he should
be sorry to see a bill that gave a mere extension of
the suffrage. He did not believe, moreover, that a
£6 house franchise would be so good a thing as an
£8 lodger franchise. (Cheers.) Whatever the Go-
vernment bill might be, he believed it would be an
honest one, and that the Ministry would try ener-
getically to carry it through. The Government was
headed and led in the Upper House by Earl Rus-
sell, who was nothing unless a Reformer, and in the
Lower House by Mr. Gladstone—(cheers)—the
most brilliant orator and statesman of our time,
whose sympathies were heartily with the people,
and who had given the Liberal party that great
watchword, "Trust in the people, only modified by
prudence." (Cheers.) There would be a large
majority in favour of the Reform Bill of the Go-
vernment, and it only needed that the people should
put their shoulders to the wheel, and sink all minor
differences. Let every man put his own hobby in
the stable for the next six months—(a laugh)—and
let all unite in backing up heartily a good Liberal
Government in passing a good Liberal Reform Bill.
(Cheers.)

Mr. AILTRPHY moved the first resolution—

" That this meeting, feeling assured that regis-
tered residential manhood suffrage is the only
satisfactory basis of national representation, and that
the ballot is needed for the protection of the voter,
urges upon the Government the introduction of such
a measure of reform during the forthcoming session
as shall be satisfactory to the people."
Mr. POTTS seconded the resolution.

Mr. E. DRESSER ROGERS, in supporting the reso-
lution, expressed the pleasure which he felt as a
member of the Council of the Reform League and
an elector of Lambeth in remarking that the first
political occasion on which the hon. chairman had
met his constituents after his election was in presid-
ing over a meeting in favour of Parliamentary re-
form. (Cheers.) He was sorrow to find their
chairman expressing even the smallest hesitation
about the reform question. It sometimes happened
that men who gave their attention to any subject
and thought deeply upon it lost sight of the great,
broad principles involved. That principle in the
present case was that every man who paid taxes
had a right to share in the election of representatives
who imposed those taxes. He trusted that their
chairman would take his tone from that meeting,
and would go to the House of Commons to say that
the working classes had a right to obtain the fran-
chise. Among the subjects that would demand the
attention of the new Parliament not one exceeded
in importance the sanitary and social question con-
nected with the dwellings of the humbler classes of
the community. Many of them knew the misery
and hardship inflicted by railway companies in
pulling down the houses tenanted by the working
classes. (Hear.) Parliament ought to take care
that when railway companies displaced working
men from their houses they should provide other ac-
commodation for them. He felt himself justified,
from what he saw in the daily exercise of his own
profession, in expressing a strong opinion on this
subject, and he would declare that no social ques-
tion was more worthy of the consideration of the
Legislature. (Cheers.)
The resolution was carried unanimously.
Mr. CONNOLLY, mason, hoped they would hear
no more of half or quarter loaves. (Hear, hear.)
He was greatly in favour of asking for what they
wanted, and not being content with less. If a full
lcaf was their measure of justice let them have it.
(Cheers.) He moved the second resolution :
" That the petition to Parliament now read be
adopted and signed by the chairman on behalf of
the meeting. That the movers and seconders of
the resolutions, together with Messrs. Bowen,
Burgess, Hill, Heartwell, and Liston, be a deputa-
tion to the Right Hon. the Earl Russell and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Tuesday next.
And that the following gentlemen be requested to
act as delegates from Lambeth to the forthcoming
Conference on Reform in London, on February
28th—viz., Messrs. Applegate, Booker, Bubb, Bur-
gess, Greenfield, lleartwell, and Whitcham."
Mr. BUBB seconded the resolution, which was
carried without dissent.

Mr. BEALE, chairman of the Council of the
League, having been voted into the chair, expressed
his conviction that Mr. Hughes would prove him-
self in Parliament to be a firm and faithful friend
to the working classes, too honest to flatter them,
but never neglecting or betraying their interests.
(Cheers.)
Mr. Ilrfirrcmor then moved, and Mr. BOOKER
seconded, a vote of thanks to Mr. Hughes for his
conduct in the chair.

Mr. HUGHES, who was received with three hearty
cheers and " one cheer more," said (in allusion to
the paucity of the meeting) he wished that the
working men present had been so far impressed
with the importance of the subject as to have stayed
out the proceedings. He might state that he had
received a letter from Mr. Doulton, jun., stating
that his father was not in England, and that his
health would not permit him to return until the
assembling of Parliament.
The meeting then separated.
A collection was made at the door towards de-
fraying the expenses.

Mr. Peabody's Gift to the Poor of London.

Tho following report has been issued :

" The proceedings of the trustees, to whom Mr. Peabody
committed the charge of his munificent ' Donation of
£150,000 for the Benefit of the Poor of London,' and the
course which they have adopted for its application, con-
formably with the recorded intentions of the donor, will
be best understood by recalling the terms in which his
wishes were originally conveyed.
"In his letter of the 12th of March, 1862, addressed to
the United States' Minister, Lord Stanley, M.P., Sir J.
Emerson Tennent, Mr. C. M. Lampson, and Mr. J. S.
Morgan, Mr. Peabody, after alluding to the sums which he
had previously bestowed in America—at Danvers, the
place of his birth, and at Baltimore, the first scene of his
active life—for the foundation of institutions calculated to
promote the intellectual, moral, and social welfare of his
fellow-countrymen, proceeds to say that, in pursuance of
a long-cherished determination to attest, by a similar gift,
his gratitude and attachment to the people of London,
among whom be had spent the last 25 years of his life,
he was then about to devote £150,000, 'to ameliorate the
condition of the poor and needy of this -great metropolis,
and to promote their comfort and happiness.'
" This sum ho hoped would be so applied by the
trustees that the result would ' be appreciated, not only
by the present but by future generations of tho people of
London.

"As regards its expenditure, Mr. Peabody had but
three conditions to impose ; but these were, as he said,
'fundamental principles, from which it was his solemn
injunction that those intrusted with the application of
the fund shall never, under any circumstances, depart.'
" First and foremost among them is the limitation of its
uses absolutely and exclusively to such purposes as may
be calculated directly to ameliorate the condition and aug-
ment the comforts of the poor, who either by birth or esta-
blished residence form a recognised portion of the popula-
tion of London.

" Secondly, it is my intention,' ho said, 'that now and
for all time there shall be a rigid exclusion from the
management of this fund of any influences calculated to
impart to it a character either sectarian as regards religion,
or exclusive in relation to local or party politics.
" Thirdly, it is my wish that the sole qualification for
a participation in the benefits of the fund shall be an as-
certained and continued condition of life, such as brings
the individual within th© description (in the ordinary sense
of the word) of the poor of London ; combined with
moral character and good conduct as a member of society.'

" Assuring to the trustees the utmost latitude for the
exercise of their judgment in deciding on the mode of ex-
penditure, Mr. Peabody without, in the remotest degree,
desiring to limit their discretion iu the selection of the
most suitable means for giving effect to his purposes, threw
out one suggestion for consideration, among the many
which would necessarily come under their attention—viz.,
whether it might not bo found conducive to the realisa-
tion of the conditions above stated, to apply the fund or a
portion of it in the construction of such improved dwell-
ings for the poor as may combine, in the utmost possible
degree, the essentials of healthfulness, comfort, social en-
joyment, and economy.'
"Thus generously endowed alike with funds, and with
discretion to choose the mode of their employment, the
first care of the trustees was to obtain a deed so framed as
to confer legal powers on those who were to be intrusted
with their administration, and to insure their undeviating
application to the generous objects contemplated by the
giver. But at this stage considerable difficulty was encoun-
tered, arising mainly from the fact that the large amount
to be expended was not a bequest by will, in which case
precedents are sufficiently numerous, but a gift during the
lifetime of the giver, which therefore involved the neces-

sity of inserting provisions to satisfy the requirements of
the mortmain law.

"After some delay a trust-deed was prepared, executed,
and enrolled; and at the first meeting under it, which took
place on the 23rd of July, 1862, Lord Stanl.ey was elected
chairman, and another of the trustees and ertook to act as
secretary pro tern., thus facilitating a resolution to postpone
as long as possible the appointment of any salaried officers.
Hence, as will be seen by the abstract of accounts ap-
pended, the gross amount for the managem,3nt of the fund
has amounted in three years to but £517 10s.
" Pursuant to the terms of the deed of trust, the main
portion of the fund was invested at interest in Government
stock and other negotiable securities, the balance being
held in readiness for early expenditure as soon as a decision
could be come to as to the most advantageous method of
employing the fund in conformity with the intentions and
subject to the conditions laid down by Mr. Peabody.
" And here, on the very threshold of the undertaking, a
question of grave significance presented itself. By the
express terms of the gift, it was directed to bo so applied
as to ameliorate the condition and augment the comforts
of the well-conducted poor of Loudon. Bat before deter-
mining how this could best be done, for the advantage of
those intended to be benefited, it became essential to de-
termine who are the poor of London in the eye of the
law.

"It has heretofore been held under the authority of judi-
cial decisions that, in the absence of any governing or
qualifying expressions, a gift or bequest to the poor' of
any place is applicable exclusively to persons not receiving
parochial support ; and this, on the principle that, to
relieve those already chargeable on the parish or the union,
nasmuch as it would contribute to the reduction of the
rates, would virtually be conferring a benefit on the pro-
perty rather than on the poverty of the locality.
"Later decisions have somewhat modified this view;
the rigidity of the law would now be more or less tem-
pered to adapt it to the ascertained wishes of the donor ;
and the mere fact of the receipt of alms would not, per-
haps of itself, suffice to disqualify an indigent family for
receiving additional comforts from the donations or be-
quests of benevolent men like Mc. Peabody ; but, apart
from technical distinctions of this kind, there were other
considerations which constrained the trustees to confine
their attention, in the first instance, to that section of the
laboring poor who occupy a position above the pauper.
"Public attention throughout the United Kingdom
having been attracted by the largeness of Mr. Peabody's
bounty communications were received from numerous
quarters suggesting benevolent plans for adoption. Many
of these were in themselves highly desirable, but the
majority involved arrangements more or less at variance
with Mr. Peabody's injunctions and the provisions of the
deed of trust. For example, institutions connected with
religious bodies were expressly excluded, and educational
establishments, as ordinarily organised, were open to the
same objection, inasmuch as they aro more or less de-
pendent upon denominational favour.
" Hospitals, both for acute and chronic disease, pre-
sented strong claims ; but on one, among other grounds,
their consideration was deferred :—Mr. Peabody, in his
communication to the trustees, had not specially directed
that the fund should be so employed as to render it repro-
ductive ; but that passage in his letter in which he ex-
pressed his hope 'that not the present only, but future
generations of'the people of London' would appreciate its
advantages, was felt to be entitled to the widest con-
struction of which it was susceptible ; and it appears to
point to a mode of investment, such as, while administer-
ing to the; immediate enjoyments of the laboring poor of
London, would also bear within itself the germ of future
extension and perpetuity. This result did not seem to be
attainable in the case of hospitals, which would absorb
without returning any portion of the fund. The same re-
mark applies to almshouses and dwellings for the reception
and support of the absolutely destitute, whose subsistence
would necessarily be a perpetual charge, without pre-
senting the slightest element of self-support ; and atten-
tion was thus forcibly directed to the object dictated by
Mr. Peabody himself, of erecting dwellings for the labor-
ing poor on such improved principles as to conduce at
once to economy, salubrity, and social enjoyment. This
mode of employing the fund had also the recommendation
that the low rents at which this healthful accommodation
could be given would annually supplement the original
fund, and thus create a source whence similar advantages
might continue to be derived for an almost indefinite
period.

"In postponing other projects, such as those above
already alluded to, it is not to be supposed that the trustees
ignore their valuo orquestion their importance; but a con-
currence of circumstances at the moment combined to give
pre-eminence to the one above alluded to. In the poorer
districts of London the dwellings of the lower classes had
been suddenly disturbed by the long pent-up invasion of
metropolitan railroads, whose incursions were overthrow-
ing whole streets inhabited by humble and industrious
laborers and artisans. This dispossessed population, un-
provide d with adequate accommodation elsewhere, were
thus driven away into alleys and courts, already incon-
veniently crowded by their previous inmates ; and dis-
comfort and disease wore in many instances added to loss
of employment and expense.

" Even in ordinary times the class hero alluded to is
ono pre-eminently entitled to the friendly solicitude of
those more happily circumstanced in life. It may be
truly said that the poorest section of society is not the
absolute pauper, whose very destitution constitutes his
claim to a legal provision for his wants. Even the stunned
feeling of knowing the worst, as ho knows it, is more
endurable than the active agony of the effort made by
the laboring man, a degree above him in the social scale,
to save himself from a similar downfall. It is to this
class, and at such a crisis, that the extension of a friendly
hand may enable the almost exhausted struggler to main-
tain his ground and preserve his sense of independence
and self-respect.

"Nothing is more calculated to cherish and develops
those feelings than the removal of the individual and his
family from the squalor and discomfort of a dilapidated
and unwholesome home to a dwelling cheerful with light
and air, and replete with facilities for cleanliness, health,
and every domestic operation ; and all this at a cost
somewhat less than he has been accustomed to pay for
the filth and malaria of the fetid alleys ho had left. It
was under a strong conviction of the paramount import-
ance of this object, and more especially under the circum-
stances above adverted to, that the trustees came to the
resolution, ' without precluding the consideration of other
objects hereafter, to confine their operations for the
present to the object specially recommended to their notice
by Mr. Peabody—viz., the improvement of dwellings for
the poor of the metropolis.'

"Enabled by this decision to proceed promptly with
the business of the trust, the next inquiries of the trus-
tees were directed to the system and style of buildings
most conductive to the objects in view ; and to the ac-
quisition of sites in districts of the city most suitable for
their erection ; these sites to be distributed throughout
the various quarters of London, in order to diffuse the
benefits of Mr. Peabody's gift ovor the largest possible
area.

" The first site chosen was in Commercial-street,
Spital-fields, near the terminus of the Eastern Counties
Railway, where a space equal to 13,682 square feet was
obtained from the Commissioner of Public Works for
£3,300. For a further expenditure, something under
£24,000 for buildings, accommodation was obtained for
upwards of 200 persons, in tenements of one, two, or
three apartments each, according to the requirements of
the several occupants. The latter sum included also the
cost of erecting nine shops on the ground floor, the rents
of which, amounting to nearly £5OO per annum, go to in-
crease the general fund, and thus contribute to the repro-
ductive character which it is the desire of the trustees to
impart to it.

"Before the dwellings in Spitalfields were completed,
the trustees were enabled to possess themselves of other
sites in districts similarly claiming attention. At Chelsea
a plot, containing 13,616 square feet, was obtained for
£4,616 18s. 6d.; for another at Bermondsey, with an area
of 27,880 square feet, they gave £4,870 7s. 3d. ; a fourth
at Islington, measuring 47,863 square feet, cost
£8,646 6s. 5d ; and for £4,300 a fifth was acquired at
Shadwell, the extent of which is over 73,890 square
feet.

" While the houses in Commercial-street were still in
progress, the trustees commenced, on the premises at
Islington, the erection of four blocks of buildings, to com-
prise in all 155 tenements, with ample accommodation for
upwards of 650 persons. The whole cost of these build-
ings, exclusive of the sum paid for the land, will amount,
when the accounts shall have been closed, to £31,690.
"Before the square at Islington was finished the trus-
tees entered into a contract for the sum of £37,953 to
build on a similar scale on their property at Shadwell,
and the works there are now considerably advanced.

" The principle and organisation in each of these exten-
sive structures is the same. Drainage and ventilation
have been insured with the utmost possible care; the
instant removal of dust and refuse is effected by means of
shafts which descend from every corridor to cellars in the
basement, whence it is carted away ; the passages are all
kept clean and lighted with gas without any cost to the
tenants ; water from cisterns in the roof is distributed by
pipes into every tenement, and there are baths free for all
who desire to use them. Laundries, with wringing
machines and drying lofts, are at the service of every in-
mate, who is thus relieved from the inconvenience of damp
vapours in his apartments and the consequent damage to
his furniture and bedding.

"Every living room or kitchen is abundantly provided
with cupboards, shelving and other convenience, and each
fireplace includes a boiler and an oven. But what gratifies
the tenants, perhaps, more than any other part of the ar-
rangements, are the ample and airy spaces which serve as
playgrounds for their children, where they are always
under their mother's eyes, and safe from the risk of passing
carriages and laden carts.
" In fixing the ront for all this accommodation the
trustees were influenced by two considerations. In the
first place, they felt it incumbent on them, conformably
with the intention of rendering the Peabody Fund repro-
ductive, to charge for each room a moderate percentage
on the actual cost of the houses as would bring in a rea-
sonable income to the general fund. In the second place,
they were desirous, without coming into undue competi-
tion with the owners of house property less favorably cir-

cumstanced, to demonstrate to the proprietors the practi-
cability of rendering the dwellings of the laboring poor
healthful, cheerful, and attractive ; and at the same time
securing to the landlords a fair return for their invest-
ments.

"At the present moment, owing to the vast changes in
the metropolis, by which the houses of the laboring poor
have been demolished to so great an extent, the cost of
accommodation for them has been greatly increased. It
of course varies in different localities ; but, on an average,
the weekly chargo for a single room of a very poor de-
scription is from 2s. 6d. to 3s. ; for two rooms, ss. to ss. 6d.;
and for three, from Gs. to 7s. *

"But the mere test of rent affords no adequate standard
by which to contrast the squalor and discomfort of one of
these apartments with tho light and airy and agreeable
apartments in the Peabody Buildings; and for one room
there the charge per week is 2s. 6d.; for two rooms, 4s. ;
and for three rooms, ss.

" On the 29th of February, 1864, the first pile of build-
ings, erected in Commercial-street, Spitalfields, was
thrown open to receive its inmates, and the number of ap-
plicants was and continues to be considerably in excess of
the accommodation available.

"As Mr. Peabody had directed by his letter that the
sole qualification to be required in a tenant was to be an
ascertained condition of life, such as brings the individual
within the description of the poor of London, combined
wit moral character and good conduct as a member of
'society,' it became the duty of the trustees to ascertain
by actual inquiry—first, that the circumstance of the
person proposing himself as a tenant were such as to en-
title him to admission; and, secondly, that in the opinion
of his employers there was nothing in his character or
moral conduct to disqualify him from pertaining in the
benefits of this fund.

" These two conditions once established the tenant, on
taking possession of his new residence, finds himself as
free in action and as exempt from intrusive restraint or
officious interference as if he occupied a house in one of
the adjacent streets. His sense of independence is pre-
served by the consciousness that he pays for what he
enjoys, and for this payment he provides himself with a
dwelling so much superior to what he had formerly been
accustomed to, that the approach to his house is no longer
accompanied by a feeling of humiliation. f
"As the result of the above inquiries, several applica-
tions for admission were declined, on the grounds either
of a condition of life too easy to entitle the individual to
be classed with the laboring poor, or of a moral cha-
racter which could not bear investigation, because of
habitual drunkenness or conviction before a legal tri-
bunal. In some instances, too, the families of persons
desirous to become tenants were found to be too numerous
for the accommodation available, and these, to avoid un-
wholesome crowding, were unavoidably excluded.
"At this stage of their operations the trustees found
it necessary to appoint a secretary, on whom would de-
volve the duty not alone of supervising the current affairs
of the trust, now becoming extensive and various, but
also of conducting the preliminary inquiries above referred
to ; and on the'sedulous and conscientious prosecution of
which the success of the undertaking is so mainly depen-
dent.

"The number of persons who took possession of their
new homos in Spitalfields was upwards of 200, including
such classes as charwomen, monthly nurses, basketmakers,
butchers, carpenters, firemen, laborers, porters, omnibus
drivers, sempstresses, shoemakers, tailors, w afters, ware-
housemen, &c.
"In the buildings 'at Islington, which were opened in
September, 1865, the inmates are of the same class, with
the addition of persons employed in other trades—watch-
makers, turners, staymakers, smiths, sawyers, printers,
painters, laundresses, letter-carriers, artificial flower-
makers, dressmakers, carmen, cabinetmakers, bookbinders,
and others. The entire community there now consists
of 674 individuals, of whom 19 are widows, the rest married
persons and children.
"In evidence of the improved salubrity of the buildings
the superintendents report that ill-health is rare, and that
the number of deaths since the first buildings were opened,
in February, 1864—nearly two years ago—have been one
man, aged 30, who died of a chronic complaint, and four
children, one of whom was under five, and two under two
years old.
" The social contentment of the tenants is freely ex-
pressed ; no complaints have been made of any of the ar-
rangements provided for their comfort, and they all speak
approvingly of the unaccustomed advantages they enjoy.
Among these they especially particularise the security of
their furniture and effects, which are no longer liable, as
they formerly were, to be taken in distress should the land-
lord become a defaulter.

"As regards the moral conduct of the tenantry, the super-
intendent reports that habitual drunkenness is unknown,
and intoxication infrequent, and when the latter does occur
to the annoyance of others it is judiciously dealt with by
giving notice to the offender that, in the event of its recur-
rence, he must prepare to leave. There has been but one
person removed for quarrelling and disturbing the peace ;
and one expelled for non-payment of rent. These excep-
tions, out of a community consisting of 880 persons, speak
strongly for the self-respect and moral principles by which
they are influenced.
"The trustees cannot conclude this sketch of their pro-
ceedings without expressing their regret on discovering one
obstacle to their usefulness, interposed by tho large
amounts levied on their buildings for poor-rate, inhabited
house duty, income-tax, and general assessments for sewers
and drainage. Looking to the fact that the fund they ad-
minister operates to the repression of the rates for the poor,
in proportion to the numbers whom it saves from becoming
chargeable on the public, it seems to present a reasonable
ground for exemption ; but as the levy is made con-
formably to law they are content to hope that the Legis-
lature may be induced to take the subject into considera-
tion with a view to the early application of a remedy.
" The foregoing statement has been prepared and issued
under the authority of the trustees.
"H. G. SOMERBY, Secretary.
_ _

"December, 1865."

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE TO
DECEMBER, 1865.
RECEIPTS. £ S. d.
Gift of Mr. Peabody 150,000 0 0
Interest ... 10,672 9 4
Rents from Spitalfields, deducting expenses 764 8 3
Ditto from Islington, deducting expenses 179 3 8

161,616 1 3