The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-03

treated one incident will suffice to show.
The poor woman had lived for several years
in a single room in house in Little Claren-
don street. but by misfortune had got in
arrears with her rent. The landlord dis
trained her goods, taking everything, and she
was left shivering in tireless room, with
barely sufficient clothing to cover her. Next
day the landlord sent man to remove the
door and window of the room. The act was
illegal; but what could the woman do? The
rain came in and saturated her scanty cloth
ing as she lay weak and helpless on the floor,
and thus the night passed. In the morning
a neighbor came in. He found her almost
insensible, but she murmured, Give me
time" thinking him to be the landlord. She
had lain two days and two nights in an
empty room, to which, for the last twenty
four hours the wind and rain had free access,
and, although she was removed to the work
house, she died in three days.
RICH PEOPLE SOWING THE WIND.
These are but few drops out OF great
ocean of misery-solitary instances out of
thousands that are yearly brought to light.
In manifesting so little concern for the con-
dition of such people, and in doing so little
for their relief, the upper classes of Lon
don and of England are sowing to the
wind, and they will surely reap the
whirlwind. The Archbishop of Canterbury
remarked only the other day that the
want OF sym, ,athy between the upper and
lower classes made him tremble to think OF
the mine of ill-will which lay buried for the
present among the suffering and toiling mill
ions, and it was difficult to see, he added,
that the same seed would bear any different
fruit from what it had yielded in former
years and in other countries. One lower in
authority, but equally competent to speak on
the subject puts the Archbishop's idea into
little palmer language. Addressing the
meeting to which reference was made at the
beginning, he denounced revolution as an
agent of reform, but" said he, ut is surely
in store for us if change does not come
speedily by other means"
No one knew the London poor better or
felt more sympathy for them than Charles
Dickens; nor could any one more effectually
satrize the treatment they received from the
rich And the besr or rather worst, feature
of Dickens's delineations is that they remain
true to the life, with some slight changes, to
the present day. The shade of Will Fern,
through a thousand Threats, still utters its
dread warning. Begin at the right end
gentlefolks it says. I'm dealing with men
like me first bring back to them the proper
spirit Bring it back, gentlefolks bring it
back, afore the day comes when even the
poor mans Bible changes in his altered mind
and the words seem to read to him, Whittier
thou goest, | can not go; where thou
lodgest, | do not lodge; thy people are not
my people, nor thy God my God"
Still, also, have we with MS the old Scrooges,
who think the needs of the poor abundantly
provided for in prisons and warehouses, and
the Sir Joseph Bowley's, who proclaim them
selves the friend and father of the poor man.
and then show their interest by preaching to
him about the dignity OF labor; likewise the
Alderman Cutes Famous man for the
common people. Alderman Cute" says the
novelist. "Never out of temper with them!
Easy, affable joking, knowing gentleman
You see my friend" observed the Alder
man, there's great deaf of nonsense talked
about want-'hard up. you know; that's the
phrase, ISM it, ha! ha! ha!-and | intend to
put it down. There is IA certain amount of
cant in vogue about starvation and | mean
to put it down. That's all! Lord bless you,
you may put down anything among this sort
of people, if you only know the way to set
about it." These characters still live and
flourish, and still, also, do Want and Starva-
ton stalk through these streets. None of
these ong-tried methods have either ban
ished these gaunt demons or lessened their
terrors. But other agencies are now being
tried, and if Dickens were alive his caustic
pen would soon be used to puncture the
State-aided emigration bubble. The cry now
is that the overcrowded streets OF London
must empty themselves into the colo
mics, that the half-starved artisans of
a great city must be sent to
scratch their living out of the waste
lands of Canada and New Zealand. This
would be we'll enough if those whom it is
proposed to export had inclination and skill
for the kind of work offered to them. but
they nave neither. Moreover, they think
their lot hard, indeed. when their fatherland
with all its Wanted wealth, has no answer to
give to their walls of distress but a cold offer
of exile, Their own ideas are that opportu-
mites to earn a living should be made for
them in their own country and among their
own people. Their demands will not be
complied with yet awhile, but no one can
look at their condition calmly, and remem-
Der the instincts of justice which animate
the Ango-SaXon race, without feeling that
they must be in the end What is asked is
that all uncultvated crown, or other lands,
shall be worked with improved machinery
by such of the unemployed as are accustomed
to, or would prefer, agricultural occupation,
and that public works of other kinds should
be started for the benefit of unemployed
persons who are capable of hard labor, but
could not farm, an equitable portion Of the
profits to 90 in both cases to those doing the
work. For those not capable of hard labor
lighter public works should be maintained
they contend, on the same principles, the
cost of the initial proceedings to be borne by
the taxpayers and the government in equal
proportion. Such are the demands of thou
sands of the working people of London, as
expressed recently in numerous meetings, at
which the question considered has been the
one at the head of this letter: ''Why are we
all hard up?' H.T.
The Heredity of Crime.
Interview with Secret Service Officer.