Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-01-06
SquaIid Want and Misery In the
Midst Of Wealth.

n. 7. Herald, Jan. IL
The past year comes to an end with
very satisfactory results on record in
the Always With You" column of
the Herald. Through this means Of
aiding deserving persons many OF the
starving poor have been plueked from
misery and the gates of death, and re-
stored to usefulness in the body poll.
tic. Hungry and emaciated men and
women have, through the liberal gem
crosby of an open handed public, been
ted, clothed and cared for until they
we're strong enough to work for them
selves. Children have been rescued
from degradation and want and re-
stored to the arms of grateful parents,
who were the recipients Of equal boun-
ty distributed through the agency of
the Herald. The question has often
been asked how it is that in the midst
OF SO many charitable, religious and
benevolent institutions the Always
With You column Chould be chosen
as the channel through which chart
tably inclined persons should send
their offerings to assuage the sorrows
Of the INDECENT poor. No doubt many
charitable societies in the city would
have faithfully distributed the sums
received by the Herald, but it appears
that the donors of them believed the
persons for whom such moneys were
intended would receive them prompt
lyand without trouble by means Of the
Always With You" notices.
Another circumstance which rec
commended itself to the humanitarians
was that all cases of sickness or want
demanding assistance were carefully
investigated by Herald reporters be-
fore they appeared in print. This
%precaution rendered it extremely diff
hcult for undeserying persons to OBJ
tain aid under false %pretenses. Indeed,
the fear Of encouraging the unworthy
has often stopped the fountains OF
charity and closed many a door to the
deserving. Although the city has made
ample provision for its poor, the disa-
greeable fact remains undisputed that
mendicants stop business men at all
corners to ask for aims. From dawn
until midnight those wretched Great
ures infest the streets. Their tales o.
woe are heartrending to those whl car
hear them. Want Of work, want o.
health, want Of friends to care fol
them, are the cries sent up to HEAVIER
in support Of their appeals. AROUND
the great hotels, on the most crowded
streets, near the public buildings
these shadows Of faded manhood anC
womanhood watch for a kindly fac,
among the ~passers-by to solicit charity
Unfortunately for themselves the
adults more often want money for
drink than for the price ofa loaf, anC
the children more frequently wan
,pcnnies to give their disslpated elder
than for their own immediate wants
Even in the silent watches of tn,
night, after the tired reporter has com
pleted his wearisOme days labor, OF
his midnight way home is he waylaiC
by the needy poor who supplicate fol
means 10 buy a supper or get a bed
} The petitioner is, in many instances
an able bodied man, shiyering il
t%atters, and whose wretched counte
nance bears the marks Of what may b,
either rum or the conscious Wretched
ness Of his deplorable situation. Boy
and young girls, too, are many time
, seen plying the trade Of beggars in
: city in which there should be work
food and clothing for all willing Il
labor. Five or ten cents to a poo.
! person is not much even for the way
, laid reporter to give; but bis strait
, ened means compel him 10 asl
whether it is right. in principle, u
help the mendicant who bars his pas
on the public thoroughfare.
There arc two risks to be encoun
tered. One is the hardship Of deny
ing aid to a deserving object, and th.
other that Of contributing to keep "a
r a class Of paupeFs who would not worl
if they could get it. Why such per
n sons prefer begging in the streets {
seeking relief from the Department 0
Charities, or some Of the numerop
/, charitable institutions, does not ap
= pear very clear, but it is conceded o.