The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-09-19
NIGHT LIFE IN LONDON

"Ihere IS nc'city in the world that does tsele
20 litte Justice as London. This Is not 2 mere
saying tor u edmits OF TOO many pal Iabe DrJJ.s.
LIZ he euseiul and sensible, but rather iselegant
parsonage who abounds in our middle cess Lon
dJn Is TOO Fegardiess OF appearances Lc. Us give
an tx mpie OF two before we come tocur point
London is undoubtedly, and by proof OF
the least immoral city in the
world, yet what Il shows % foreigners
and proyincials is a nightly spectacle not per-
ptted IN any respectable State. IN the Oli
World at least. There is more spent for the sup
py OF water than IN any European city, bus there
Ia hardly a fountain, hardly a tdsin, hardly a
uougn, and, TIL lately, hardy cup OF fresh
water 10 be seen. What revenue we spend upon
our overs aud cur street. et-cleantng; but we are
the very reverse OF whited serClchrc. NOwh ere
is labor of al kinds 50 well paid nowhere is
there such domestic comfort but If a stranger
asks where our laboring poor live we must take
bin 70 courts end lanes and 20 streets wnere, in
every kind Of dirt, clOseness and Inconvenience
Whoe families live IN rooom, perhaps garreI,
per baps cellar.
"But not the least inconsistency of this un-
happy sort remains to be t0ld, and we have some
thing 10 say to 1t to-day. Our pubic provision
for The rehef Of the poor is tue most costly and
and the most compete ia the world. Every body
In this country has legal right TO food, shelter,
and ciolhiug. Our charitable societies for special
purposes are so numerous and SO eXpensIvtiy
conducted as to be a very great charge on the
bei evolent Our endowed institutions are with
ont q parallel. In London alone their receipts
amount to the revenue Of a second class-nOt q
third class-GeTman State. Yet all this good
food, II Is most evident, Is put into a bad skin.
In no city in the wOrld-exCept Italy and Ireland
rs they used 10 be-are there so many beggars,
so many poor cTeatul es, old and young, male and
female, sleeping under pUrches, or on the Park
benches, or in any cJIner where they are not
likely to be trodden on; or many not aCCus-
toned 10 this sort OF lodging, asking at all
hours of the night, for pence 20 pay for
bed. Whatever the reason they do all these
things much better over the water, at Paris. You
pay heavy bill there, for the municipal rates are
heavy under the Imperial regime, but you are not
permitted TO fear that the work Is not done The
Iauptr and the mendiCaut YOU have there paid
for In your rate or your hotel bill do not still
haunt on like ghost that will not be laid, or
like the spectral uIusOn always standing there in
that pai ticuiar place, though the doctor and the
s>AuIse wak through and through it. But it IS inn
possible for man TO walk through this metrop-
oils at any hour IN the twenty-fOur without being
continually encoanlered by the living miseres
which he has pai0, and wOrKcd, and written, and
ain ost fought to put down. or course, we Xpect
new supply, but there Is provision, over pro-
vision, FOR meeting new supplies Of poverty and
other misery and the new supply ought not by
ali the rules Ot probability, to exceed a certain
average, which average we are prepared for.
"Now, why is this Why are we to pay for
the work and find 1t undone There positively
is person in this metropolis fully authorized
and properly empowered 20 deal with the poor
creatures we have described as sharing with cats
and oOgs Ile pavement, the pOrches, and door
steps, and now and then iutrudlng their wants on
the passenger. We snall be 10 Il, perhap,, th u
they ought not to be here, they ought not to
exist at all, and we shall only be multiplying the
race If we meddle. But we can swear ~ the cx-
ktentC RnG increase uf the race fOr nearly half %
o,ntury, in spite of no meddliDg; md we are
painfully aware Of the fact that foreigners notice
this, rs they do other public scandals. Tnere is
nobody TO pick up these miserable bundles Of
humanity, and put them out Of sighr, under
cover. There Is nobody to give them a proper
nights lodging.
"Eyery London workhOuse, t is true processes
20 have a night porter ald a room for the casual
poor, but II any workhOuse gave clean and
comfortable bed TO every body who asked for Il,
with wholesome breakfast next morning, G
would be thTODged with applicants, aud iC Is no
blame TO the authorities II they are not as nos
piiablc as might be. Migrants very soon learn
the difference between one house and another
and they will 60 to the best till they are driven
away. So the several Union workhouses, in pure
self-defence, put on extra severity. Their night
rooms, If they have any, are not too large
and il they have one they have not always
two, in which case they cannot take in meu.
OF course they don't want 70 have fewer
than their share, but they don't want more
than that and though the cost really is triIng,
they resemble the rest OF the world in not liking
10 be put upon People must take care Of
themselves, aud we must not wonder If boards
of guardians are jealous Of being saddled with
more than their share of paupCTsm. Yet we sol
emnly protest against allowing these hOuseess
poor to DC driven II om door to door they perish
as no doubt many of them do. Let us see who
and what they are. Hard people will say they
are old hands at il, but are old haads our
selves, and what we see is thar the cls or rather
classes, described as 'houseless poor are Contin
ually recruited from the vast surrounding mass
OF poverty, illness, misfortune, aud helplessness.
"Society Itself, in proportion as IL fixes and
settles, eXpels It's less manageable or superabun-
dant members. Parishes become too popuUus
families are scattered, establishments break up,
employ ers fail, fathers dc or mothers die they
marry again or 90 not; girls are driven from
cottage 10 service at an age when young gen
tleman is considered incapable Of taking care OF
himself or earning penny; any form Of
weakness or singularity Is l0stled OF the
Iur, ~ local community, like iil-packcd lug
gaze from vehicle and thence becomes % help
less wait drifting i'm this widC, wide world.
These classes there will be rs long as tree
shed Their leaves in autumn as long as the
troubled sea lines the shores with tiimsy
wreck. They are diyi led for convenience into
three desCriptslus-Way larcrs, supposed to be
on their journey 10 some fixed destination; wan
dertrs, on the move with no real OyGcti and
foundlmgs, or destitute children, under twelve,
without parunta or guardians, or ut least any th l
care for them, We have seen thousands upon
Thousands who might com under each Of these
heads. We haye never felt any surprise how
they came TO be what 1hey were, aud Wlcre tucv
were, though we cUatcss o sJmc very uraBry
speCu aIiOns as 10 " hat they w0ull come 70 aud
where they might De before very long.
cit Is this great aul inveterate scandal of our
wee Thy and humane metropolis that IS proposed
10 be metby the Poor 8eliet lmeuop0isl btll, 20
mako provision for distributing the ChHrge of
whole Of the metropolis. kecOgni2ing and main
tanning the duty Of each Union 20 administer
Teliet 70 all applicants j Is proposed 10 lay ON the
property Of the whole metropolis the relief of
ahese unhappy derelicts, who evidently belong TO
no one Union more than smother. We may be
gArmittCd 70 say that we Of the Press have "a
6Uecial right 10 be heard u this matter. In con-
seqn ence Of ihe hours we Keep Nc see more Of
these destitute hOuseless poor than any other
Deoplt3; and we feel second cousins, not many ne
moves from the class. Going home at all sorts Of
hours. we are in a condition % feel for those who
have no home 20 60 to. How they survive a long
fro ty nil,ht N-fed, sCGntily clothed, and with the
bare stones 10 lie on, or whether they do always
survive. we know not. But we are quite sure
they ought mot tO he left in the street. or banded
from one BOTll-lOuse door co another. That
however, has been their fate ever since they
were leltto the parish and the parish was driven
70 take care Of itself In q case tried before Mr..
sSusllee lopham, in the earliest days Of the poor
HH, % We are told, DcuX COustable5 strive CIrCe he
sthlui en- quel Parish fait Ee pUr ayOider le
Sualgo. Lun c9ny en- Pun Parish et pauler
seiol4 . y Aslnt font ey long que per Geo lnf8nt
tloilsi @ put reason aei cold.' In this case both
me oricers were hesd guilty OF murder. but ma
douhl there are scOtes Of such mprJsrs are5r,
year IN this metropolis" IVY
"A boy diteen years o. q, named David GreerI,,
has bePu arrested nt Tonca ster Pa a.. j., ~