Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-04


gestiOn made in the same article, l wrote
to the Associated Charities for the name
and address Of any needy one they had on
hand. fully determined to try this altru-
istic doctrine on the dog myself. But, alas
for the presumption of pessimistic mind!
With the path Of social advancement IL
lumined by information Of the street and
number and name and worthiness. of a
family in reed, / hadn't the courage to
bulge an inch along the upward way. Not
all the acquired nerve and invention of
newspaper woman served me a particle.
How do you do, madam; / have learned
from the Associated Charities that you
are in want"
What business is that of yours?"
Il am sure don't know; beg your par
don. Good afternoon"
Confederation for the Poor.
That was every bit as far as 1 could get
to rehearsing my part as social reform
er. and to think Of just sailing In and trust
| ing to luck or inspiration to put me on the
right track after I got there, this was
impossible. because of the deep-seated re-
spect I have for the right Of even the
poor to possess their own in privacy,
though their own be nothing but wretch
edness. The habit Of judging others by
Pm wretehed, want to be let alone.
Jobs boiis hurt none the less under the
pressure Of a touch, though the touch be
that of a friend. Besides, If nothing 8
done. there's the one certain hope of relief
that death alone can bring.
But suppose this other woman be different
suppose she would jump at any chance
might offer to divide her misery with me-
what could I give her In exchange?
my poor woman, 1 am very, very sorry
for you. It Is very, very hard to be a
widow, but think how much better off your
husband is. He was hanged? No matter;
haS 6no6
to consider everybody dead as being happy.
so never mind. but think only how much
worse it would be II he were living. Oh, yes;
l dare say you do suffer. / know it is very
very painful to have an empty stomach.
was hungry myself once-indeed, yes-and
1t hurt. But, my dear, poor woman, l ate
something then and it made me sick Just
try to realize how much better it is to be
hungry than to be sck-and the child it
does suffer- can see that plainly. Ne yer-
theless it might have been twins, you know
Fancy two babies moaning instead of one
and four others CRYING for bread instead of
three. truly you have a great deal to be
thankful for. Let us bless your luck and
be blithe. In the meantime will send YOU
some victuals and a few tracts" =.
Applied Philosophy.
That is about what could do, If I were
perfectly kind and helpful but, being more
honest than anything else, as a matter of
fact what I would do u.s.. on receipt of her
Hretchedness, to hold it up to the light. and,
finding it no different from my own, speak
the truth
You want the earth. So do l. Not the
whole earth just at present. but as much
more than we have as either, from her point
or view, can imagine. Wen never get it
but that is no reason why we should quit
grabbing and fretting for it, All we ever
can get Is sorrow. If you take enough Of
this poor woman. by and by you viii
grow 1nsensib1e, and then you don't mind.
and are practically as well OF as If YOU wefe
happy. You might take opium or whisky
LOT the same purpose, but the effect is not
SO lasting; 1t Is more expensive, and sorrow
Is more respectable. especially for a WO-
man." Wv
You can readily see how my prophetic
aspiration, yet when had stated NV case
to Mr. Wilson and asked him to show me-
the poor, ana the opportunity they offer
from his point of view. he was tolerant
enough to take me Summing
The slums Of Washington are pecula r,y
located. They exist all over the CITY. In tn.
heart Of responsibility and wealth shut off
irom view IN the center Of squares that on
humanity. This general proximity Of the
rich and the poor throughout the CITY make
the two classes natural neighbors and that
MI Wilson's scheme of charity does not.
therefore. In the natural order of Christfan
relations rid Washington of a submerged
class, is to be explained only by refiecting
on how little proximity has to do with de-
terminfng human affairs; and when the
good rich man prays to heaven that he NAV
love his neighbor as himself, heaven Of
course understands he means his neighbor
VINO lives IN streets not in alleys.
Haunts Of Lazarus.
The alleys into which Mr.. Wilson took me
extend through an irreproachabfe quarter of
the northwest. and are entered from one OF
thase small breaks in a street which we
pass every day. never guessing nor seeking
to learn that it opens a few feet on into
the haunts of Lazarus and his kind. The
poor in the section I visited are NOT de-
PRAYED, merely degraded, according to the
law which governs the relation of morality
and money. While Becky Sharp NAV have
permitted the personal equation to undulv
influence her calculation that 5000 a wear
are necessary to perfect responsibility, we
nevertheless know that our system Of ethics
SO depends upon our cash, or that potential
cash called credit, that when the latter is a
minus quantity. the problem of life speedily
becomes q simple statement of animal needs
and the unknown quantity sought the where
withal to satisfy them Then, by the pref
tily arranged steps of a purely mathematical
process given human nature to find, the
result is, first degradation, then deprayity.
then crime, and then the state enters into the
operation and the submerged are rafsei
from their odious and menacing obscurity
" 1OIuk STATISTICS OI penal 1NStttu-
lions and the matter of capital punishment.
Disappearing from the upper crust of So
ciety, Mr.. Wilson led me along an alley
that, inside the square, branched out, SO
that inclosed within the four sides of ex-
terror prosperity are three alleys built I'D
on either side with houses in which Dives
would not dream of quartering his dogs.
Yet here abide men and women and little
children. Dives must certainly renounce
his faith in the Constitution Of his glorious
country every time he looks out his back
windows, or continuing to believe that men
ere born free and equal, he must believe
also that the creatures in the shape of hui
man beings in the alleys are not in truth
human. He also must forget his germ
theory Of disease, else pure selfish interest
and defense against alley microbes would
cause him to go down there and teach his
alley neighbors home sanitation. For my
self, don't believe all men are born free
and equal In anything but suffering, and
I'm not afraid of germs, so these prods to
charity are nothing on the elephant hide of
by egoistic soul.
eris Going In without Knocking.
Down through the midle Of alleys where
we walked was running nasty-smelling
sluggish stream Of muddy water. This is
technically called surface drainage-prac-
ticalty 1t means that from all these alley
Houses waste water is thrown out the back