Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1891-04-18

tucIu. lucy HOuld udYO III oOlSSoiOA
to the almshouse, for they like thin
soup, if they cannot get mock turtle.
propose this for them: On one side
OF them put some healthy work; on tho
other side put O rawhide, and let them
take their choice. like for that class
of people the scant bill of fare that
Paul wrote out for the Thessalonian
loafers, 'Ifany work not, neither should
he eat" By what law of God or man
is it right that you and | should toll
day in and day out, until our hands are
blistered and our arms ache and our
brain gets numb, and then be called
upon to support what in the United
States are about two million lonferst
They arc very dangerous class. Let
the public authorities keep their eyes
on them. = =
"a gain; among the nprooting CLASSES
iEplace the oppressed poor. Poverty
asceTtafns ID. .;tis
jlssEss 81 hen Il sl lfl MN the
| wall, and he hears lis clMld ren cry III
vain for bread, it sometimes makes
him desperate Think that there are
thousands of honest men liberated into
vagabondisIn. There are men crushed
under burdens for which they are not
half paid. While there is no excuse
for criminality, even in oppression, l
state it as simple fact that much of the.
scoundrclisln of the community is con-
scquent upon III treatment. There arc
many men aud women battered and
bruised and stung until the hour of de-
spair has come, and they stand with
the ferocity of a wild beast which, pur-
sued until it can run no longer, turns
round, foaming and bleeding, to fight
the hounds.
LIFE IN THE CEDLARs.
There is vast underground New
York and Brooklyn lie that is appall-
ing and shameful It wallows and
steaIns witllputrefaction. You 60 down
the stairs, which are wet and dccayed
with filth, and at the bottom you find
the poor victims on the floor. cold.
sick, three ourths dead, sinking into
q still darker corner under the gleam
of the lantern of the police. There has
not been breath of fresh air in that
room for i've years, literally. Tho
broken sewer ompties it's contents upon
them, and they lie at night in the
swimming filth. There they are, mon.
women, children; blacks, whites; sfary
Magdalene without her repentance
and Lazarus without his God. These
are .'the dives" into Which the pick
pockets and the thieves go, as we'll as
a great many who would like differ
ent life but cannot get it. These places
are the sores of the city, which bleed
perpetual corruption.
They arc the underlying volcano
that threatens us with Caracas
earthquake. 1t rolls and roars and
surges and heaves and rocks and BIAS
phemes and dies. And there are only
two outlets for 1.-THE police court and
the Potters field. In other words,
they must either 60 to prison or to hell.
Oh, you never saw It, you say. You
never will see it until on the day wien
those staggering wretches shall come
up in the light of the judgment throne,
and while all hearts are being revealed,
God will ask you what you did to help
them. ;,
There is another layer Of poverty and
restitution, not so squalid, but almost
as helpless. You hear the incessant
wailing for bread and clothes and fire.
Their eyes are sunkcn. Their cheek
bones stand out. Their hands are
damp with slow consumption. Their
flesh is pulled up with dropsies Their
breath is like that Of the charnel house.
They hear the roar of the wheels of
fashion overhead, and the gay laughter
of men and naidens, and wonder why
God gave to others so much and to
them SO little Some of them thrust
into an intidelity like that of the poor
German girl who, when told in the
midst of her wretclledness that God
was good, said; mo, no good God.
Just look at me- No good God"
In this cluster OF cities, whose cry of
want 1 interpret, there are said to be
as far as can figure it up from reports
--about three hundred thousand honest
poor who are dependent upon individ-
ual, city and state charities. lfcll their
voices n,nld come up ut orcc it would
be groan that would shake the foun-
dations of the city, and bring all earth
and heaven to the rescue. But, for
the most part, it suffers unexpressed.
1t sits in silence, crashing its teeth and
sucking the blood of its own arteries,
waiting for the judgment day.
Oh, should not wonder if. on that
day it would be found out that some
of us had some things that belonged to
them; some extra garment which might
have made them comfortable in cold
days; some bread thrust into the;cs'i
barrel that might have appeased their
hunger for little while; some wasted
candle or gas jet that might have kin
died up tlieir darkness; some fresco on
the ceiling that would have given them
n roof some jewel which, brought to
that orphan girl in time, might have
kept her from being crowded off the
precipices of an unclean life; some New
Testament that would have told them
of him WHO ''camc to seek and save
that which was lost"
Oh. this wave of vagrancy and hun
ger and nakedness that dashes against
our front doorstep! If the roofs Of all
the houses of restitution could be lifted
so we could look down into them, Just
p, Ct1J Ioot-c ,u1,oca ,,oryac would no