The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-28 00:00:00

Destitute Americans in England.

In another portion of this paper we publish the
proceedings of a public meeting held at the Man-
sion House on Thursday last, for the purpose of
inaugurating a Peabody testimonial. It is not our
design on this occasion to comment on the noble
and friendly speeches of the gentlemen who parti-
cipated in the proceedings, further than to express
our sincerer gratification at the resolution which
was unanimously passed, to erect a statue in some
conspicuous part of the metropolis to commemorate
the great benefaction of Mr. Peabody. But we
cannot resist the inclination to call particular atten-
tion to the suggestion of one of the speakers—P.
working-man, Robert Fillingham by name—
whose proposal was worth more than all the others
combined. Mr. Fillingham—belonging himself
to that class which knows best, and can best appre-
ciate, the difficulties of the poor—suggested a mode
of testifying the sense entertained by Englishmen
of Mr. Peabody's munificence, which, from the
friendly motives which prompted it, instantly com-
mends itself to all. He recommended that a penny
subscription should be collected, for the erection, in
London, of an asylum, somewhat in the nature
of a Sailors' Home, in which American work-
men would find a refuge while they were
out of employment in this country. Such a
subscription, he thought, would come within the
means of all, and there was scarcely a working
man in Great Britain who would not gladly give
his penny to aid in founding a "Home" for
Americans of his own class who, coming to England
in search of employment, might find themselves
temporarily in want in this country.
Mr. Fillingham's proposal is an excellent one,
but its adoption would not meet the want which is
most experienced by Americans in England. There
are few—scarcely a dozen—American working men,
properly so-called, ever at one time out of employ-
ment in London ; but there are hundreds of Ameri-
cans, mainly professional men and men of no pro-
fessions, who come hither every year to seek their
fortunes, but who very rarely find that ivhich they
seek. American working men can always find
employment in their own eountry, and seldom stray
far from home ; but young Americans of the middle
class have a fondness for coming to England almOst
as soon as they leave the paternal household, and

they do come, to learn, alas! that the little know-
ledge which they possess will serve them no useful
purpose in this great world of London, where only
the strong arm and the courageous heart can hope
to win. These young men scarcely ever succeed in
this country. They spend their first few months
hopefully, till suddenly they find their means ex-
hausted and they are penniless—" strangers in a
strange land." London is a great city, a gay city,
a pleasant city, a wonderful city, to the man who
has money in his pocket or friends around him ; but
to the foreigner, without money or friends, it is,
unquestionably, the very worst place in the world.
Land a " live Yankee" on the Mosquito coast, or
in
Japan, or in Terra del Fuego—or even place him
alone, and without resources, on an iceberg
in the
polar sea,—and he will probably work his way out
of his difficulty. But set him down in London,
with neither friends nor money, and all his cuteness
will not save him from starvation.

There are,. perhaps, on the average, four or five
thousand prosperous Americans temporarily or per-
manently residing in England. We presume these
few thousands are not generally aware, however,
that there are also, on an average, some hundreds
of their fellow-countrymen in this metropolis who
are destitute and starving. The Editor of this
journal can count up more than twenty applications
which have been made to this office during the past
month by Americans who have " come to grief,"
and who require assistance to enable them to return.
home. We learn, on the best authority, that the
United States Consul in London—whose purse-
strings are always open to the deserving of his
countrymen—is harassed to an extent
entirely
beyond his means, with similar applications, and
that in the large majority of instances the aPPIi"
cants are really deserving of assistance. Indeed,
some of these cases commend themselves especially
to the sympathies of Americans. In one instance,
the applicant for relief was a gentleman of three-
score years, who had lost his two sons in the war,
and who, coming to England in pursuit of his Pre"
fession as an artist, fell ill, and lost his only chance
of support. He asked only for means to pay his
passage back to America. And these needy Ameri-
cans must either lie down and die in the streets of
London, or else beg the means of returning hole
from those of their fellow-countrymen here who
are known to be able and willing to help them.
This state of things calls for a remedy. There
is neither reason nor sense in expecting that a
few public-spirited and liberal Americans lika
Julius Morgan, or Charles Lampson, or James
M'Henry, or Russell Sturges, or Freeman 11.;
Morse, should be saddled with the burden of
providing temporarily for every distressed Amer!"
can who may pass through London ; nor la
there any excuse for permitting the wants of desti-
tute Americans to go unrelieved. There is but one
practical mode by which the grievance can be re-
medied. The Germans, the French, and the Italians
have each a society and a fund for the relief el
those of their countrymen in London who maY re.'
quire assistance. Why should not the American resi;
dents of this metropolis adopt a similar plan ? Let a
society be formed, with a subscription of, say a gtline,,
per year, with the American Minister as PresideTa
and a Secretary and Treasurer—all of whom wool
make their work a labour of love. Such a Society
would not only do incalculable good in its
sphere of charity, but would form a nucleus aro°,
which Americans in Europe would rally. Then ti
National Festivals of Washington's Birthday
the Fourth of July would not go begging for recog-
nition, but there would be an organisation uPc°
which Americans would naturally rely for the PO;
per management of these celebrations ; while all
Americans would feel comfortable with the rale!:
tion that no fellow-countryman was languishing 1'
London for the means which, out of their ab°_,,-
dance, they ought to bestow.—Ang/o-America"
Times.