The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-03-05
REV. MIR. spunR EXPLAINS
His Recent utterancce Before New
York Church Society. n

d = ~ 80. - b. .
YORK Shureh society
TO the Editor OF tho Intelllgencer.
am. -RefArr,nc, "a yo,,,. pi,div edi,or.
,.,i,. ~. !, -.
' a' ~ tnis i'i i''rb paper, u'uhA' you
most cordially for your defense OF tho
position supposed TO have been taken in
~, ,aaras, 4. G, ,,.,,,.,,,,, .,,rot /,
~ ~ - .aa'..v" S''us VI ~ ~
New y ork city, on the 18th INST.
II is necessary, however, in justice to
tho ladies'. IN the work thar represent
-, A.. !. !. W.. ,,,-.,.. !, :. ~.
as ate'i 1eaoo'i u West sirsiiia, " ssy'
that some changes should DO made IN
your statement concerning the condi-
4io,. IA which 7 rarar
80 ,,
IN inc hrst place. ! was invited 70
speak on the general subject, 1.-THE Poor
Whites in the South" To this end a
,.,.,, u, ,,I,.,,. ,,,o,, ~,
t'"'ss i'As' ~ i"' 'IIl 'E1. ss'
OUT py the society OF 81. Matthew's, in-
Wiling representative people of their
congregation to be present 10 hear what
] had to say concerning the general SUBJ
ject.
In starting out I stated to the audience
that what / had to say did not refer to
my own congregation whatever, or In
any way to the population OF this state,
taken as n whole, but rather to the en-
tire southern states, where We have two
and one half millions OF people going by
the four following general names: "Poor
white trash,' DIRTY Dozen" Georgia
cracker and FLORIDA clay-eaters.'
After explaining what the names
mean, stated that for these people in
the southern churches there was prac-
tlcally nothing being done by our own
church, and that no department OF the
church had been elected whose duty Il
should be to care for these people.
Then again referring to the "poOr
whites" said that they could be dIvi-
ded into three classes, 4, e., those found
In the mountains, those on the hills, and
those on the fiat lands, who lived princI-
paliy on the border OF the rivers. then
stated that these last named people lived
in boat houses; that the conditions OF
life found In these novels was such as to
render It impossible that the average
boy or the average girl brought up In
their midst could be either honest or
virtuous. It was in this connection Of
the boat population that made a
statement that there was no chance OF
the boy being honest or the girl knowing
what 4. was to be vlrtuous. This
maintain to be strictly true and can be
corroborated by any police officer whose
duty lies upon the banks Of the river, or
by any Christian worker who systemati-
cally works among the people and who
seeks to rescue the fallen.
Going on with my subject, then
spoke OF my experience as chaplain in
the state penftentiary. ! stated that the
prisoners mainly come from these con-
di.lons Of life; that fully fifty per cent
of those committed to the penltentiary
were suffering from tubercular or other
odious diseases. This / maintain to be
true Of the state penitentiary located at
Moundsville, West Virginia, and that
the warden and physician in charge OF
the prison will fully confirm what ! have
said.
Furthermore, in a conversation with
the physician OF the prison to-day. he
stated that my estimate OF fifty per cent
was very conservative, and that as
mayor of the town in which the pentten-
,Iary Is located he can assert the same
TO be true concerning the boat-house
population.
i then went on to state that owing TO
the insufficient. appropriate given by
the state legislature, there could not be,
nor was there proper ventilation In any
OF the cells. and that the officers were
hampered at every turn to aid the men
in their suffering condition that they
were in when they arrived at the prison.
Further, that the narrow cells in which
they were confined with practically no