New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-08-14
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

LABOR AND LIFE r ar Ts By charles Booth With
,oiored map svo. PIP. 59o LONDON ""''di"
& NOrgate. 49, -. ,o,. %
rhs is not the first attempt that has been made 10
-. tho rorular life of London. but It promises 10
" 49, ost valuable and trustworthy. Forty years
co an agitation in many respects hehucai WIN vi"
= swcatincs investigation of the present uaS wa
,.,sod by the London press and one louri'ai
. largo special staff under the superintendent u e
n,o.bers Mayhew TO gather facts and statistics III"
,es,,l4s were published. first in The Chroho% GU
later in book FORM under the general heau ~,
y.hor and the London Poor and excited mucu III
,.rsst and discussion Since then there have oecn an
immense amount of talk and much eSrnoss "a -
ameliorate the condition of the poor OF i|.
oeor Wow and fuller understanding OF the si'uSoi
have boen obtained through the systehd'Aou , -
-, ootical nhilantbrOpists who, under the 1oSioo0
Col, nd other organizations, have gone TO I'VE among
d with the classes 10 be studied, ana so idl do - P
sbIe 10 be helped , - or,od cone unon
cr,at change has in the same pe1ou oono uio
,ho General conception of the pToDleh' " may a., 20
o,d that the era of sentimentalisn mas p"ssoN' -,
' s,.a,,,,ira.e almsgiving is no longer resaruou
s . nartial means of relief, but is sigmanzeu a.
r,scttevous wasteful and acuNeN pio"""
Che worst evils IL is meant to Mitigate 0n0 - ~
,his conclusion is a saner method OF procedure ~ ~
,,,g.tion of poverty and no better example VI INC
inroved view point could be had than inc Noi"'"0
mp ~ s,,shes The district selected for analysis IS
-. Tondoo including Whitechapel, Shorcdl'oh anu
roralIv speaking. the poorest regions Vi inc in0P
lie A population of some 9OOooo Is ehlDI'o'u' ~
,,u fifth of this number Is SHOWN 10 ooio'e ~
iuil class whose subsistence IS precarious, ana
hoso habits place them, TO speak broadly on 'o "
s,o rropnd between civilization and balbarlSm' Nr.
- o,sised by a staff has gone all over TINS grV"""
80 yon,ned the occupations and trades ana HoueS Vi
,,fe NJ the people with sufficient mnu'eheSS w
them roughly and TO obtain the DATA LOT CERTAIN
..Dences which, II they do not help much 'oW"N
dofrtve solution of the problem, al least ocnio u
,,,ro NJ the difficulties clearly than ever Dcloro
S tho most significant deduction from the
,o,r, FACTS is this that the most forndaple III"
,ce 10 the wcll-being of the poor Is the cOnpcH'oH
.. the still lower class hero termed the very POoi
This bottom class among the workers CONSISTS as'
90 neonle whom it Is most difficult to deal WIN. AN0S
embrace both the congenally lazy and incapaoie' anu
-. macmillan semi barbarOus element which, WHO hoC
lacking Industry, is so restless and so iull Oh s
- - t,oadom that IL cannot be bound down 10 regu
ar and continuous employment Members OF thls oias'
work AZ a rule no more than three days III 'ho "ooA
and are quite content to put up with nan eali"eI ~
tho salOe of tho leisure they thus procure NO" oso
peopIe Interfere seriously with the next cia9s aDo'0
them the steady workers with home and family ues
, h,t for This desultory but effective compeu
con would earn Just enough more than they 90 to
make the difference between constant approach 10
distress and comparative comfort Mr. BOOM nous
that II this bottom stratum could he removed aoseter
the worst pressure Of poverty would cease Dut IL Is
,oor tba, he has thus far been unable TO discover
any practical means of efecinG the measure ne "oi1
Ike 10 see carried out Compulsion he rightly rejecs'
cot be seems to lean 10 some form CT government
Socialism whereby the inefectives may be provided
for without t4enching the means Of subsistence OF
the electives , ~.
Tho most encouraging fact stated Is TO the effect
that the poverty OF East London Is not so Dau aN
was a generation ago. and that there can be perceived
amt ma
Indications, by a decrease in crime Announcer poi''
made in this interesting volume is that the existence
of even very great pressure and very low standard
OF living by no means necessarily imply the aoSehce
of happiness. After large experience, MI Booth
concludes that the poor for the most part really find
plenty of enjoyment in life, and 1t may be suggested
that they perhaps better able TO utilize their OPP
nort,,nities than the lower middle class TO which ap
pearancess constitute so depressing an agency To
the reader who dwells solely upon the statistics OF
wages and tho details of mea9re housekeeping ana
regimen, tho condition Of the majority OF the poor
here described is apt TO appear wreched even 10 nope
lessness. But Mr. Booth observes, and the remark
mas DEPTH that it is not possessions that produce
happiness but hope and love. The poorest laborer
who has steady work and wife and children 10 WORK
for may, if temperate, be happy; and this Is ana
always been the highest state of existence attained
by the majority of men everywhere. What to 40 VIVID
the surplus, with the clements which in STAN OF
nature would simply perish through incapacty 10
compete the struggle for existence, remains the
formidable difficulty.
Modern society hes elected 10 alo the responsibility
Of this surplus upon ITSELF but yet has not found
out how fulfil what holds 10 be its duty in the
premises. No scheme of government employment.
either at home in the colonies. appears to meet the
practical demands of the situation. Without compul
SION how induce those 10 work steadily who are dis
abed for competition with their generation, precisely
because they cannot will not bring themselves 10
continuous LAHORE In colony their normal defects
would operate with twOfod force against their pros
pects in all probability. Hnless they were care
fully watched over they would perish in state Of
nature. They in truth the Red Indians of modern
society," so far as the difficulty of making them self
sustaining without inuIng their neighborS is con
cerned and hitherto the p.oblcm has baied all at
tempts at solution.
1t is, however. by such careful and Thoughtful in
auiries as this Of Mr.. Booth that the question must
eventually be determined and his book must therefore
be welcomed and heartily praised as contribution OF
prime value one OF the wcgbtiest subjects of the
age II also value in the dcnals it offers TO the
rampant sensaonalism which has pictured East Lon
don as perfect slough of dcspOnd, and the light ii
throws upon the gradual but increasing progress being
made in the direction Of higher social conditions and
standards Of living among the poor