Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-04-29
POVERTY OF PARIS.
soMBEa SIDE OF LIFE IN The
FRENCH CAPITAL.

A Census of the Existent Indigency-One
Hundred and Forty Thousand People
Enrolled for Public Charity-List Of
Paupers of Foreign Birth.
Who has not in his minds eve linked tho
name Paris with gayety and pleasurei 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 is climax.
and where fountains Of pure silver have
an unceaSinS howl The casnal tours.
finds no contradiction in this roseate ideal,
for Paris in Itself is a world whose varie-
gated social strata present separate studies
which could be probably pursued for a life
time. The French have the happy faculty
of presenting the bright side Of everything,
while their proverhisl good manners add an
additional lustcr which is well calculated %
satisfy The ordinary mind
But Paris without riches and poverty, vice
and virtue, happiness and misery, would, In
deed, be u strange anomaly OF human axso-
citation. It is true we get glcsIn OF certain
phases of Partisan life from the Confession
of Claud,r 'L'AsSomoirr or Camille" yet
il is hard to believe that such degree Of de-
pravity has a secure footing in che French
capital The facts have not been overdrawn,
however, the Only dispute being the extent
20 which vice has obtained
TIE CENSUS OF INDroENCY
As to the existent indigency more rational
data can be obtained Every three years a
census is taken of the population enrolled at
the beneficence Offices Of the twenty districts
into which Paris is divided Tbs object Of
the census is twofold. First, by it are OBJ
tanned the names Of all persons who are en-
titled TO public aid; second, a close study IL
made of their true situation with a view Ia
rendering rs many as possible self sustaining.
According to the previous register there
were enrolled for public charity 81 ,ssl heads
o. families representing lie, $50 persons The
board of visitors have eliminated 400 heads
OF families, representing IL 200, leaving regis
tered at present a. ,6s3 heads Of families or
12S, 324 persons. Comparing this result with
that of 1850 we find the number of heads OF
families has increased by SIG, while the in
dividuals comprised have diminished by all.
Each dependent domestic group is therefore
relatively less numerous, while the individual
applicants have senSibly increased In 1880
Paris had l ,g9S, 600 inhabitants and rs, 735
indigents, or .. - per cent To-day the popue
lation is :, $50 .o00. of which 5. 4S per cent ara
dependent on public charity
In all the districts the number Of assisted
women is far greater than that of the men.
For every a males enrolled there are 81 fe-
males This is easily explained on tho
grounds that the labor of women is less re-
manerative, and they have less repugDance
IN recurring TO the public charities.
PAUPERs OF FOREIGN BIRTH
The native Parisians are by no means tho
majority of those Whose names are ON tho
dependent rolls. For every LOCO, Paris and
its Department Of the Seine furnishes 22T;
the provinces, 200; foreign, ga. Taking 900
names of those o. foreign birth, tho Germans
lead with 407; Belgians, $50, Dutch, I73:
Italians, -; English, 10; SpaniardS g.
Americans and Turks, o. II viii be observed
that Germany furnishes by far the larger
number of Partisan p0upers OF foreign birth.
This is explained by the fact that thu Ger
mans are the most migratory OF all people,
and in search Of the daily bread" have in
yaded the world
In general the German emigrant Is model
Of industry, economy ard OF irreproachahIs
customs, and putting in practice the French
proverb that there are no scnscless occupa-
tions, there are only scuseless people. bays
undertaken almost every department Of labor
and trade. The Frenchman who enjoys in
his own country an easily won livelihood
and an excellent climate seldom cruases tho
frontier, while the German, whose condi-
tiops arc less favorable, is found widely
scattered
The lodgTnent OF The army q psupsrs in
Paris forms an interesting study. More thRn
a fourth part live almost gratutously, con
fined in grots, caverns ard cellars; one half
pay from 100 to 1900 fruncs rent per annurn-
Sixty-one per cent. Of these holes or bowels
have only one bed. the rest have two, three,
four and even FIVE apartments The inhabit-
ants OF these rooms belong to ali professions,
comprising Thousands Of the fruits >,cs Of ara
In ali It's manifestations and forms San
Francisco Chronicle.