American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1865-06-28
VOLUME 3.
The Lower Stratum Of England's
Population,

monstrative of roast beef and plumb
pudding diet, is rather too fatterIng a
figure to symbolic population Of which
ope.eighth is fed under the provisions OF
the Poor Laws. England must be very
rich country, indeed, to be able to pay
twenty-five millions Of dollars per aunum
Tor the support Of her paupers. But
she must be very poor country, to re
duire such an expenditure for such pur'
pose.
For the statements we make on the
subject, we have the best Of authority
We refer not to sketch of Old England
by New England Man, nor to Lester'a
"Glory and Shame of England" nor to
Channings Duties Of Free States" nor
to any American authority whatsoever
Tie sad story Of the debasemeut, miscry
and wickedness Of the lower order Of the
English population is told by an English
writer, a gentleman of the legal profess
sion, in work expressly on the subject,
desigped to arouse attention, aud to sug-
eest efforts for the improvement of the
classes Of which it treats The work is
entitled The Social Condition aud Edu-
cation of the People of England, by Jos,
Kay, Esq, of Trinity College, Cam
bridge" 1t was published, reprinted,
by the Harpers, two years ago Ia this
book, which was evidently written In SOY
row. not in anger are narrated facts at
tested by the best evidence, documentary
and off rIal They relate to the condi-
tion of the very poor and working classes
aud to the pauperism and crime that pre-
vail among them Toa Ges Of these facts
we confue ourselves in this article, not
for the sake Of exciting any ilI-teehng
toward England, but TO arouse gratitude
to that Divine goodness which has order
ed our lot under institutions OF enI ght-
ened freedom, which are adverse to The
growth Of a selfish, proud aud perolc,ous
aristocracV. The facts in Mr. Kay's book
nrove that the condition of the poor in
the agricultural counties, with regard TO
education aud morals, is even worse than
in the manufacturing districts This, at
first strikes us as so strange to be almost
incredible. But when we read of the
babit,tions in which the very poor live,
al skenticism gives place to conviction,
amszement an sorrow. Mr. Kay's book,
it is proper to say. was published in 1850.
1t led to some ef5ts of reformation, but
the momentum acc uired by the immense
amount Of pauperism was too great to be
materially checked. The cause Of the
evil heinz chiefly the aristocratlo institu-
tions Of society which mark so wide a
difference of classes that the educational
;o,orosts &c tho yery roor arc NOT emhra.
'"',' 900 " w ~ -.
oq p'''' :, -.
'-'0' ', ''''1' ,'.''l ,.I,ll. ~ ''1 ',,o,
~ IsI1sS I 49, ,La ,,a.,,ati,o or Fro
1on4 v,s hon, .; ;vtoon mil ions the r,,n.
hor or ,.r,ors v.s ono million oicbt
b,o4roj ord. .oro,ty ,h,us,,d TTndor
imnrovad noor laws tho amonnt exnen.
ded on these deoanjeot peopIs was on
an over,go sayaptv years no less than
twontv- five millions Of dollars ner wear,
F.,n, this oo,,nerotio, ora arclnJed the
,aroa rnrher. tho were kert from star
not,,, in4ir;4a.lo,d ,rir,,+o char;t;as
o,d ,ho i,r,o sr,os of r,onov so ovronaad
uTbis - saws Mr. Kav ubos heen rsoui-
rod 70 ollegi.ta tho r,isorabIo cond;ti,n
Of our laboring nornlatiop and 70 keen
crowds from actual starvation Their in.
depopdence is DESTROYED. they cannot
live n,Iass tbay aenend mon the obar;.
ties of the higher classes
On the score Of crime, the representa-
tion is made, in tabular form, for thirteen
years We select the year l84S, the