The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-04-02
SEVENTY-FIYE CENTS,
Masons and Mechanics Working al
WardwsII Wages.
THE FREE TRADE SOUP HOUSE,
Ths Charity yund Increased From = 100 20
ossyooo-0rsdtnG smish's Hni-fiiiing
the Cove Lsnds-whsre ths Soup
Houses steed.

w. Q. Baker, Q rash young candidate on
The Democratic Assembly ticket recently
made himself the laughing stock of older
men by referring to the prosperity OF
Providence under low tariff. For his in
formation and that Of other young voterfs
the following article has been carefully
compiled from the city records.
There was . time In the city Of Provi-
dence when poverty wa 30 common and
the number Of the poor was SO great that
active measures were taken by the City
condition of these unfortunates. Bust
ness was depressed. and large numbers of
laboring men were out Of work, and yet a
few years before this Providence was en-
joying great prosperity.
This changes from q healthy, industri-
Gus community, with work for all. to an
idle community and depressed business
conditions was within q lew years.
In 1870 the Common Council a%ppropria-
ted but $500 for the relief Of the poor but
the appropriations In the succeeding three
years became 30 large that in 1859 q COM
mission was to consider and report what
alterations II any were necessary in the
system of affording temporary relief to
poor and INDECENT persons. In 1854 there
was $4,000 appropriated for the relief Of
the poor and in 1856. $4,000.
a until 1855, when there were four APP
preparations made. One on March 8 Of
$1,000, another May 10 Of 5000, still
another on September 10 Of tl2, 900, and
finally one on October 4 Of ~. 1000, a total
there was the income of the TillinRhast
fund which netted quite a sum. This
last sum was NJ increase Of e21, 500 over
the appropriation of $500 In 16l0, while the
increase in population had been less than
AS these approximations continued to
grow free soup houses were opened. It Is
In the memory Of old Providence people
when there was q soup house on the cor
ner Of College and Benefits streets where
the Court House is now located. In the
second book Of the city council there Is the
following under the date OF March IL,
1855:
Resolred, That the Board of Aldermen be
the Treasurer for the amount OF Hollis b CAT
fin's bill for the supply Of soup for the poor,
the same to be paid OUT of the appropriations
for the support OF the poor Approvedi
ell voted to I'LL I'm tina cove lands for public
and park purposes, and one old resident
says that only married men were hired to
do this work, and then at the rate OF Is
cents a day.
the Phoenix Building and the Howard Hall
werejburned down, n first class masons
worked at cleaning bricks and carting
debris at the rate of Is cents a day. Car
penters worked at the same rate in winter
and there are houses now standing in
Broadway built by men paid at these low
wages
Such was the state of affairs in Provi-
dence before the war broke out, and IL
must have been a source of qualification to
those men who, rendered desperate for
ways by which they might earn their
daily bread, hat they could find a way Of
earning money and serve their country at
the same time by enlisting In the army.
Providence fully shared in the financial
panic of 1856, and during the winter Of
1857 the drain on the city treasury WAS
heavy in providing for the poor and those
thrown ont OF work.
OF this q writer says: "Those abso-
lutely unable to work were provided with
food and fuel, without the ignominy of
going to the poor house. Inc to employ
the able ones the city took this opportu-
nifty to furnish them occupation In bring
ing Smiths H~ili-before then a level
plain, ending in a high bluff-to its
moved to all IN ''e the Se''i back sesn'' cove ,Se
lands. This action OF the city
enabled the a~ble-bodied poor to live
through that winter without sacrificing
their Independence by becoming recipients
of charity. Financial reverses of
perhaps greater dimensions q since been
experienced In orr city, but none nave
threatened such widespread suffering as
did those of that disastrous classes"
In relation to the filing Of the cove
lands, Capt. George Pettis says that there
were crowd of men standing around the
old City Hall begging that they would no
to shoveling on Smiths Hill at rs cents a
day while previously, before being turned
out OF work on account of the shutdown