The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-09 00:00:00

THE EAST LONDON DISTRESS.

Yesterday a large meeting was held at Willis's-
rooms, St. James's, to hear an account of the East
London Mission and Relief Committee, which was
organised last winter very suddenly to meet the
great distress in the East of London, and which in
the course of a few months raised and expended
nearly £20,000. Lord Henry Cholmondely occu-
pied the chair, and among those present were Lord
Ebury, the Hon. Arthur Kiunaird, M.P., Mr. Noel,
and Mr, R. Baxter.

The CHAIRMAN said the meeting had been called
in order that the committee might explain what it
had done, and give an account of the large sums
supplied by the public during the winter months.
From the balance-sheet, which had been distributed
among all present, it would be seen that the :loin-
mittee had fed hungry men, women, and children,
and had spent the largest amount of money in
establishing classes whereby the poor might earn
money. Not only had the committee dealt with
the temporal wants of the poor, but it had also dealt
with their spiritual wants. lie expressed his deepest
thanks for the help which had been given in money,
and also for the personal help give", by ladies and
gentlemen who had gone to the East-end and as-
sisted in relieving the spiritual and temporal neces•
sities there existing.

Mr. NOEL, the hon. secretary, read an interesting
report, which stated that the committee was orga-
nized on the 4th of December last, in consequence
of a report given in the press of a case of starvation.
The plan of relief was that adopted during the
Lancashire distress, of giving work and paying
wages for that work, and the list of subscriptions
received, it was thankfully acknowledged, had been
given in the newspapers. It was found that the
people were so destitute as to be unable to attend
the classes until they were supplied with clothing.
As to the meals given, 119,985 had been given to
ragged school children, and 44,183 had been given
to men and women. Though the committee had
not made attendance at the religious instruction
compulsory upon those who received relief, and
Roman Catholics were allowed to go when prayers
commenced, means had been taken to give spiritual
instruction.

The statement of the receipts and expenditure
showed that the subscriptions had amounted
to £17,375 19s. 7id. ; a " special summer fund "
subscription had amounted to £2OO ; the goods
made at the sewing classes had sold for £7lB 16s.
3/d. ; and petty cash had been overdrawn to the
amount of £1 2s. ; making a total of
£18,295 18s. 4/d. The expenditure side of the
balance-sheet stated that wages in sewing classes
had amounted to £5,530 13s. ; the materials for the
sewing classes to £2,054 2s. 7/d.; "feeding ragged
schools " had cost £1,252 38. 7id. ; " free meals
for men and women " were set down at £696 19s.
2d. ; bread to the amount of £1,287 2s. 2d., coal
to the amount of £1,273 6s. 61, groceries to the
sum of £1,035 7s. 6id., and meat and soup to the
amount of £1,035 7s. 6id. had been distributed, and
clothing, blankets, and further grants and wages,
and other things, made in all a total of £16,528
2s. 7/d. Then grants bad been made to other com-
mittees to the amount of £350 10s. There was a
balance left in band of £713 9s. 4d.

The Hon. A. KINNAIRD, M.P., said he could
add his testimony, if any were wanted, as to
the reality of the distress in the east of London.
There had been various causes assigned for
this distress; but there was the fact of the distress,
and this had to be dealt with, and he trusted that
it would be found the distress would only be excep-
tional. He urged that it was a duty upon the part
of the inhabitants of the West-end to aid the poor
of the East-end, the distinction between classes be-
ing more and more defined by the poor occupying
one end of the metropolis and the rich the other,
and the responsibilities of those living in the west
could not be limited to the relief they bestowed im-
mediately about them. Much could be done, he
suggested, by the ministers of congregations at the
West-end of London taking up such a task as
urging the support of the sewing classes of the East
end upon their flocks, and one congregation, he
stated, had undertaken to keep up such a class, an
example which might be followed by others, and if
so followed an immense amount of misery would be
saved. He dwelt upon a fact mentioned in the re-
port, that the committee's labours would not be car-
ried on much longer, and pressed the necessity there
was for those who had the time and heart to assist
the poor to carry on the organisation which had
been thus commenced. As to the distress itself being
altogether relieved, he said that much might be done
by assisting the people to emigrate, and some money
subscribed for a purpose for which it was not nov/
needed remaining in his bands, he, with the sanction
of others interested in the fund, had resolved to
apply it to aiding some of the persons in the neigh-
bourhood of Poplar who had not received parish
relief to emigrate to Canada.

Mr. R. BAXTER proceeded to give an account of
the manner in which distress had fallen upon the
East-end. Ho showed that one cause was the
failure of the shipbuilding trade, partly throng
the cessation of the American war, and partly,
it was to be feared, through the operations of the
trades' unions, which forced the working men to
press for a rate of wages which the manufacturer
could not pay and compete with the trade in other
parts of the country. Added to this failure of the
shipbuilding trade was the failure of the Spittal-
fields' silk trade through the French treaty, and the
distress from this was very great. Another great
change of a trade was seen in the fact that the
sugar refining which bad been carried on in the east
of London, which had given good wages to a large
number of people, was being taken to the ports, it
being found that by establishing the manufacture
at the port where the raw material entered the coun-
try duty was saved. Then the building trade had
fallen off, and the introduction of the sewing ma-
chine had taken away the occupation of the wretch-
edly paid sempstresses who lived by their needle.
All these failures of work had led to a distress that
was perfectly appalling ; and though it had been
said that the poor-law was the proper means of deal-
ing with distress, he could not trust it to deal with
exigencies such as this was ; and experience had
shown him that until the poor-law was enlarged so
long would there be a need for the voluntary efforts
of the charitable ; and at all times would there be
the need for a mission such as this committee carried
on. He generally supported the mode which bad
been adopted in giving relief.
Several speakers followed, and dwelt upon the
necessity of giving the poor spiritual instruction,
and the proceedings closed in the usual manner.

A version, in French, of " Ring Lear," by 1
Jules Lacroix, was produced nt the Odeon Theatre, Paris,
on Monday last. The Avenir National says that great
liberties have boon taken with the original, without much
judgment being displayed, and intimates that the piece
was somewhat wearisome from its undue length. It ar
pears however to have been well received.
THE LAST TIGER STORY.—The following tiger
story has arrived from India:—Colonel Alexander Bagel
accompanied by Lord Downe, wounded a tigress iu the
jungle near Nagode on the 28th of February. The animal
took refuge in a nullah, whither they followed h_er up, and
as Colonel Bagot was preparing for a second shot sb°
sprang upon him and seized him by the leg, knocking
over Lord Downe and a shikarrie by whom they were se'
companied. A Goorkah Sepoy immediately shot the
tigress dead and that saved Colonel Bagot's life. The
colonel's wounds were not serious, and he is rapidly re-
covering from them. Lord Downe's clothes were torn bl
the tigress's claws, and ho was severely bruised by her
charge. —Pall Mall Gazette.

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