The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-22

Copyright. 1905. by Curtis Brown
n ONDON, Jan. 21.-.'If you had any
pluck in you, you wouldn't stand
IL it. you'd revolt. D. Balfour
and all his class of politiciansI
They'd revolt in twenty-four hours if
they were in your position. Don't hide
yourselves in your garrets. Bring ter
ror into the West end and they'll listen
to you then
So spoke a demagogue, Jack Will
liams. to some 1000 or 5000 forlorn
wretches gathered around the base of
Nelson's monument in Trafalgar square
the other afternoon Policemen heard
him and grinned. Scotland Yard had
made its preparations to deal with any
thing that went beyond that most cher
ished of an Englishman's privileges,
free speech. The mob cheered the
speaker, scowled at the stalwart guar
dians of the law. and dispersed to their
garrets convinced that broken heads
would not alleviate the pangs of hum
ger.
Yet had John Burns, Will Crooks,
Keir Hardie and other leaders of labor
in and out of parliament, who ignored
the meeting, attended it and brought
with them their followers and appealed
to them in the same incendiary strain
1t would have required more than the
police of London to have held in check
the thousands of the unemployed who
would have f1ocked to them. The West
end would have been far worse terror
lied then than it was in 1886, when,
starting from the same square, So
cialist mob went rioting through the
streets of swelldom. 1t is hardly an
eXaggeration to say - sober minded
Englishmen, who know the English
temper well, have said it-that it is the
restraining influence exercised by men
In whom the suffering poor have con-
fidence which stands this winter be-
tween law and revolution in London
On the Verge of Starvation.
AT the present time London presents
the most amazing and appalling spec
tacle in all Christendom. In the rich
est, the, most populous and most chari-i
table city in the world, 100000 people
are out of work and living on the verge
of starvation. Every night some 5000
shivering and destitute wretches wan
der through the streets hungry and
shelterless.
These statements are not based on
the Wild figures of some irresponsible
alarmist. They appeared in a plain
presentation of facts made by Colin N
Campbell. social secretary Of the
Church Army. at a meeting of wealthy
titled folk held by Invitation of the
Duke of Observation-Disclosures of Lon
don'ss landiords-at Grosvenor house.
1t resulted in elfciting two checks for
5000 each. two for $3.50 each, a number
for minor amounts and lot of orders
for kindling wood, by the chopping of
Which, for two hours, penniless men
earn meal and a nights lodging.
Scant charity this, considering the
resources of those appealed to; but had
the contributions been tenfold larger
the result would have hardly been ap-
preciable in diminishing the present
suffering OF the vast army of the un-
employed and those dependent on them.
The best that charity can do can fur
nlshes only temporary palliatives and
pestpones the application of some rem
edy that Will strike at the root of the
evil
Il could almost wish" writes Harold
Begbie. that charity would shut up its
purse and say No to the appeals of
East London. If for three weeks all
the splendid agencies for succoring the
poor were wholly paralyzed-if every
phfianthropic door at which thew are
now accustomed TO knock we're fs,,ssi
shut against the sick, the hungry and
the he1neless--then, think. swiftly and
fillstiy, storm would break over West
minister which would shatter and de-