The Dickinson press., 1888-01-14
POVERTY OF PARIS.
soMsER SIDE OF LIFE IN THE
FRENCH CAPITAL.

\ Census of the Existent ln,igcncy-Ono
Hundred and Forty Thousand People
Enrolled for Public C~harity-Iist of
paupcrs Of Foreign Firth.
Who has not in his minds eve linked tue
name Paris with gayr!y and pleasure: Who
has not conceived Paris vast haven where
the cares OF earth are cast aside. where mis-
cry and misfortune are unknown, where
human enjoyment has reached lis climax,
and where fountains of pure silver have.
an unccasing flow: The casual tourist
finds no contradiction i'll this roscate ideal.
for Paris in itself is II world whose vir!r-
gated social strata present separate studies
which could he protitably pursued for II life
time. The French have the happy faculty
Of presenting thu bright side of everything.
while their lr"vcrhial good manners add an
additional lu>ter which is we'll calculated to
satisfy the ordinary mind.
But Paris without riches and poverty. vice
and virtue, happiness and misery, would. in
deed. he ~ strange anomaly of human asso
cation. II is true we get n CLEAN IF certain
phases of Partisan life from the "ConicS>.on
of Claud," Il Assnmoir" or "Camllc." vet
1t is hard Ia believe that such Il degree of de-
pravity has secure footing i'll the French
capital. The facts have not been ovcrIruwn.
however, the only dispute being the extent
10 which vice has obtained.
THE CENSvS of ~INDlGEScY.
AS TO the existent indisencv more rational
data can he obtained, Every three years a
census is taken of the population enrolled a,
the heneticenre Offices of the twenty districts
into which Paris is divided. The ohjee, Of
Sha n,,S ,u s,,->F-N3 -. 49, =, .-- 81
tanned the names of all persons who are oa-
titled 10 public aid second. a close study is
made Vt their TRUE situation with = View to
rendering as many as possible self sustaining.
According to the previous register there
wer" enrolled for pubic charity 3l.>>, heads
OF families. representing l+o.t5 ~ persons. The
boar! of visitors have eliminated 5000 heads
Of families, representing Eco. l,aNlnS regis
tered at present 4',.2, heads Of families or
l'si.S24 persons. Comparing this result with
that If ls>o We find the number of heads III
families has increased by ST.. while the in
dlvidual> comprised have diminished 10y All.
Each dependent domestic group is therefore
relatively less numerous. Will the individual
applicants have scnslhlv increased. In 1870
Paris lad l,!t's.'l-i inhabitants and ie5.1,%5
lndlsentS. or 6,s ler cent. To-day the popu-
latlon is 2,e'a.hn. OF which j. +3 lsr cent. arc
dependent MI public charity,
In all the districts the number ot assisted
women is far greater than that of the men.
For every "a males enrolled thcre are 4, f-
males. This is easily explained M tie
grounds that the labor of women is less rv-
muncrative, aud they have less %rclugnanr.
i'll recurring to the public charities.
nArPERs OF FOREIGN BIRTH.
The native PariSianS are by no means the
majority nj those whose names are On tn.
dependent rolls. For every 1000. Paris and
its department of the Seine furnishes oaa1;
the provinces, .Wi; foreign, ii. Taking 100
names of those of foreign birth. the Germans
lead with 400; Belgian>. SIC: Dutch, l12:
Italians, -: English. IT,; Spaniards, 3,
Americans and Turks, .. 1t will be observed
that Germany furnishes by far the larger
number OF Partisan paupers Of foreign birth.
This is explained by the fact that the Ger
mans arc the most migratory of all people,
and i'll search of the daily bread" have ill.,
vated the world.
III general the German cmiGrant lisa model
of industry, economy and Of irreproachublc
customs, and putting i'll practice the French
lrovcrh that there are no scnsel"sS occupu-
tions, there are only Scnselcss people" have
undertaken almost every department OF labor
and trade. The Frenchman who enjoys i'll
his VII country an easily won livelihood
and an excellent climate seldom crosses the
frontier, while the German, whose conli-
tions are less favorable, is found widely
scattered.
The Judgment of the w:my of paulers in
Paris forms an interesting study. More than
a fourth part live almost gratuitously, con-
fined in grots. caverns and cellars: one half
pay from 100 to 1000 francs rent per annum.
Sixty-onc per cent. of these holes or novels
have only one bed; the rest have two. three,
four and even five apartments. The inhabit-
ants OF these rooms belong to all professions.
comprising thousands of the fruits secs of art
in all its manifestations and forms.-San
Francisco Chronicle.