Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1849-06-01

The Poor in New York.
The question of Poverty is assuming serious
practical aspect in New York What shall be
done with the poor2 Their number is increas-
ing among Ne. There arc thousands in this city
who are miscrably destitute, ragged, filthy, sick
", crowded in garrcis or cellars, without FIRE,
without a bed, dependent on charity for seanty
and prccarious subsistence. There are other
thousands whose daily labor yields them SO scan
~ n support that sickness or loss Of employment
would render them pennies and dependent on
charity for food, medicine and home. Yet
many Of our wealthy citizens have no conccp-
ton of such a state of things. The merchant
whose route lies from the Exchange through
Broadway to Union.squnrc or the Fifth-avenuc,
may be surprised and increduloua Mt such q state.
ment. He meets day after day the same impos-
tors, the same blind and crippled bcggars, the
same haggard and bloated women with borrowed,
stolen or tortured children, but he never sees
anything like real poverty or suffering VIII
such man believe us when we toll him that q
slight advance Ia the price Of -four or fuel caus-
cs dstress--distross that is felt in hundreds of
families where there is an air Of comfort TO the
casual observer; and that sickness reduces such
families 20 the brink Of starvation, and renders
them liable to ejectnent for the non-payment of
rentp
We'll, neighbor, if you will call nj our Office
tomorrow, we will engage to show YOU, within a
hundred rods of where We write, family Of five
persons who have lived last week on fourteen
shaiihgs Isl 75); a family who have seen "bci-
ter days" and who have been reduced not by
vice, but by misfortune. We will take You TO
another family of four, where the mother lies
sick on a rude cot, their only apology for bed,
and the father Is unable TO find employment:
they have pawned little keepsakes and necessary
articles Of clothing for food, and would have
I..t, oil # h. sf hao
their ront Of strangers We will take you to
ano,hcr-but the stencil Of the street and court
will sickcn your stomach, il your heart is not al
ready sick We were about taking you to mar
row room, six by twelve, occupied by three per-
sons, where honest and frugal industry would
pine with hunger and languish under disease did
not the hand Of charity furnish employment,
food and medicine.
You begin to see some signs Of poverty. But
we have not yet taken you to the painter aud
the joiner both once in prosperous business,
now reduced, with families on their hands good
workmen, but having only such employment as
the kindness of friends may furnish. And we
have not attempted to enter, much less to ex-
plore, the recesses Of poverty and Indebtedness
in the very heart OF New-York. There are
mulhiudes Of poor who are not bcggars, and yet
arv imuie NJ ahy moment to be reduced TO beg
gary.
ipy hospitals aud other charitable institutions
That will not meet the case. IL would DO bad
economy TO expcnd all the charity Of the com
munity upon institutions expensive in their
structure aud management, and toward which
there is natural aversion on the part Of the re-
spectacle poor.
Shall We copy the pauper system Of England
But though it is the duty Of Society to provide
for the poor, it is not clear TO US that this is the
H.. r Al. l.
always prodigal Of money, and reckless If hui
man sensibility. They pcrpetuate the evil they
are designed to remedy. They become also pc.
litcal engines Of the worst description. What
we want is q mode Of relieving the poor which
will not increase their helplcssness and depend
cncc by freeing them from the necessity Of labor
and assuring them of the prompt and permanent
supply Of their wants by public or private char
ity, but which shall educate them to industry.
economy, temperance, manliness, virtue, o. shall
cherish these qualities where they exist.
How shall this be accomplished? We put the
question TO Christians. For We maintain that
Christians should take the lead in ministsr.ng to
the wants Of their fellow-men--to their tempo
raj as well as their spiritual necessities It Is a
reproach 20 the Church when other associations
are in advance Of her in any form of practical
benevoence. We do not undertake TO solve the
problem We can only offer few suggestions
Can you not in some way provide employ
ment for the poor Q,hsE. t&PEA. hsjedcayrL
them rather than to those who are not in pres.
sing need Employ them too at remunealing
prices.
VIII not some men Of capital erect buildings
for the better accommodation OF poor families at
low rents? The apartments should be counio-
dious, well lighted and ventilated, furnished with
closets and other convenicnces for domestic pur-
poses, and the building should be supplied with
Croion water. The rent should in no case cx-
coed the interest on tue cost and expenses Of
the property, and should even fall below that
In such buildings the respectable and worthy
poor could hnd quiet, clearly, comfortable
home. Establishments of this kind have been
recently erected in London, as also bathing and
washing houses, on large scale. We hope to
see q similar movement here. Might net some
of the outlay upon costly churches have been
better expended on such buildings?
Above all, let those who are blessed with
abundance visit the poor, ascertain their wants,
and give them sympathy and relief in person.
This is one Of the best modes Of recreation for
man of business, after the tolls and cares OF the
day. lie who does good only through Societies
and by proxy, knows Ii 10 of the luxury Of 10
nefcence
We content ourselves at present with these
hints trusting that our appeal to Christian phi
lanihropy will not be in vain. If it proves 10 be
soft Christians, us SUCH will not move cncr-
geically in this matter, then how can VIC censurc
philanthropists like our ncghbor of The Tribune
Tor attempting to accomplish By otter means the
work abandoned by Christians
= re fr,srPe"1rni, Dniy ..
SLAvEHoLpiNo TRoUBLEs.-While passing
down the Ohio River, four years since we came
in contact with two X enfuclians .vho s,c-,od -.