The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-06-19
Hou-e. for the Poor.

/ Start not. reader This is no trifiing matter,
no mere scheme at which You may turn up your |
nose in contempt In Great Britain, the subject |
Of buildiur houses for the iaboring classes in the
cities or near them, occupies large portion Of
j the public press, and has, through the humane7
efforts of Lord MorPeth, been brought before
Parliament. And well may this be 50 Only
think Of fOrty-fve thousand people in Liverpool
living in cellars-of ffty-seven per cent Of the
population Of Manchester, because they fare no
better, diving before the age Of five years,-of
only two hundred aud thirty-eight out Of sly
hundred and fourteen who nad enlisted in Bir-
mingham, being approved, from the same cause,
AMI Of nearly the whole race of operatives Al
Spittafield - being in a state Of decay"
Nor are err cities exempt from like troubles
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati.
and all the larger cities, have thousands Of la
boring poor who fater and die for want of being
well-housed, weH-fed, and well-clad- And We
rejoice to say, that good men in all these cities
are examining the subject with view Of finding
out, and applying the proper corrective. Mr..
stephen Perkins, Of Boston, and Daniel Min
turn, Of New York, and other kindred spirits,
with wise benevOlence worthy Of all praise
and imitation, have already begun the work n
these cities Success be with them. and all sucl,
The Ills of society would quickly disappear IL
those who have, would only labor wisely and
generously for those who have not
Toe fact Is clearly establishei-that no pro-
gress can be made where the physical wants Of
man are unattended to or neglected. Let the
home Of the artizan b. squalid, and nothing can
save him or his. No miSsionary-no Sabbath
school-uo occasional OF regular bcEevolence-
can uplift those who live amid filth. who know
not the blessings of pure air or pure water, who
breathe in evemOre the faint of a murky atmOs-
phere, orwallow amid crime and impurity ofevery
sort. The body must be cleansed ere the soul
can be purified. The physical wants must ne
properly supplied ere a spiritual progress can be
secured. And so well satisfied are the clergy
and public of London, and the larger cities Of
England, of this fact that very little doubt re-
mains of W B. MOffat's plan being carried fully
into effect That is as follows:
To establish an association. where shares shall
be divided into five pounds, TO attain no more
than 6is per cent. upon the capital, !, of which
is to be set aside as a reserved fund for repairs,
and for the benefit Of distressed widows and
orphans; to call for ten shilhngs only on the
share, receiving small monthly payments for the
balance, so as to allow Industrious workmen to
purchase themselves freehold. And out of the
capital so raised, to build along the lines Of the
different railroads, leading to London, villages
containing some five thousand cottages, giving
house-roOm for population of some thlrty-fve
| thousand souls Connected with these cottages
cottages to be of three classes-the first to con-
! tain six rooms, with a yearly rental of Sl20,
the second, four and five rooms, at 500. and the
third, four, FIVE and six, at less than a dollar
Week.-Mrs. rents securing free passage to and
from London BY railway.
This is the spirit that should prevail in large
cities; and il riH prevail-fOr when such indi-
viduals wehave named in England, and in this
country, lead in this great enterprise, backed as
they are by the hboring classes, il cannot help
| pItNdlliuHs " Sttoutu Nitc pooiCI oINlAdlS uc
taxed as they are in our crowded marts Why
should laboring men in London or New Y ork.
be forced, as they forced, to pay from fifteen
to twenty per cent. more than any other class
for house-rent1 Why DO this at every moral
sacrifce-at the sacrifice Of life itself Go
into the lanes and allies of crowded cities. See
how their inmates are dwarfed in body and made
calOus in heart, and in every way degraded
The pest Of the places they live in. stands out
upon them, and covers them over with leprous
disiinctness. And is it right that this should be,
that man should so degrade his fellows anywhere
and more especially, that cold-bIoOded ava
rice should be the cause of such oppression
But as we have said, new era is dawning
upon labor and the labOring man. Men arc
rising up who will defend their rights, and pro-
claim to them their duties. True, in England
as here, there are court moralists, reverend lip
cOmfortsrS, that once week PrOrIaia how
blessed are the poor, and tell Us, all = WE'LL
But the masses know better; the educated know
better; the generous and humane Of every class