The sun., 1905-12-17
LONDON'S POVERTY PARADE.
IMPRESSIONS or AN AMERICAN
WORKMAN WHO SAW IN
Hopeless, Poverty Stricken Condition OF
tho Workers OF Merry ngiand-ThinES
That Might Be Remedied--situAtion
OF Mech mics on the Continent Better

| the Workers or Merry Enginnd-ThinE0
That Might Be Remedied-Situat
or Mechanics on the Continent Better.
LONDON, Dec. s.-An American work.
man who witnessed the procession OF 5000
Of London's half starving unemployed
through the streets Of the West End tho
other day brings TO the London Office Of
THE SUN the following impressions Of this
painful feature of metropolitan life;
To-day had the somewhat rare oppor-
tunity for an American mechanic OF seeing
the army Of unemployed Of London on
their shall we say, annual parade. Where
lives the man who has not read about these
ever and anon occurring pilgrimages to the
West End2
As I watch the marchers my thoughts
fiy back to America and its toilers and dwell
on the parades and demonstrations have
taken part in myself. My memory reverts
TO the wars we waged for better conditions
and the hardships it entailed upon us.
But, and here brighten up, so far we have
not been compelled to march out in search
Of bread and pity and in spite Of all dis
chalmers what else does this appeal amount
tor When we did go out 1t was mostly to
show our teeth. Our grievances seem very
|
remember what they were.
am not forgetting that distance lends
enchantment to the view" and that we are
apt to ignore past sufferings. But in this
moment America looms up in my eyes IA
Gods own country, and thank my stars
| for knowing 1t as do. Ip our worst days our
appearance never suggested the poverty
and hopeless misery of these fellows.
The parade itself? Well there is not
great deal to say about il, Young men
and old men and middle aged men, all poor
looking and starved looking, and mostly
attach so much Importance to the question
of size as some people do. The strongest,
toughest and all round serviceable man
| il a little man. Anybody that knows any
thing about hard work will subscribe to
that.
A few blackcoated fellows were in the
line; they are not called workers here
why cannot fathom; they are clerks more
or less And could not help rejecting
they would form quite an army themselves
should they see fit to expose their plight
One has only to see the miscel llaneous
crowds studying the newspaper advertise
ments to realize what big percentage on
that class are idle from time to time. Inc
| bulk of the marchers was made up OF that
particular aversion Of mine, the man In
| corduroy or noeskin or whatever it is,
with a dinky cap and trousers tied up with
strings below the knees.
!
| reminded of all sorts of miserable things,
pubs" and warehouses; and doles and what
! not Why a man should want to disfigure
himself in that way is beyond my under
standing.
The saddest feature of the parade was
the large contingent of boys and young
| fellows in the line. Things must be worse
than bad when they are out Of work. They
are cheap, you know.
| suppose to the majority Of people there
| 10 ppthipu moro dishpnrtpninR than the
sight of great army of unemployed like
| this one. But, although it may be from
sheer love of being perverse, cannot feel
My sympathies go with the poor devils
that are working. If they were a little
better of we would never hear OF these
misery exhibitions and subscriptions and
soup kitchens.
own poor If they were not 80 confoundedly
poor Themselves. That is putting it in an
indigestibe form, l suppose, but what
mean is this:
work are in hopeless, Poverty stricken
| condition; their existence is so precar1ous
that the least misstep will put them in the
| same boat as their marching fellows. Judg-
| ing from observations since coming TO
England a short time ago, | consider the
| English workingman's condition worse than
the Continental though nominally he is
| better paid.
After looking into the circumstances, OF
| the workers in Germany, Russia and Sweden
| / cannot conscientiously record their status
| as favorable according to American stan
dards, for they cannot save anything. But
| they are secure and they enlov life.
| Whether it is the frugality and ability to
make little go a long way that gives the
| peoples of these countries their advantage
am not prepared to say. There probably
is something in that, and If so, praise is due
the women, who are wonders when 1t comes
t<., and po
But credit is due the EN- ployers for con-
triving to give their men, if not big wages,
practically steady employment. And that
| is what counts in the long run.
One thing that struck me as very favor
able was that very few were outside Of sick
and other benefit societies. ] doubt the
English as rule have much in that line TO
fall back upon.
here to realize that they furnish the worse
example of hand to mouth existence All
their buying is done through hawkers and
costers. When things flourish they buy
the best; at other times the worst will do.
/ am not advocating credit system in
shops. But in the first place, if people
trade regularly in one place they become
known and are trusted when necessary.
1t is a good thing to be known in other
places than the pawnshops. In tn"
second place it is an injustice to shop
keepers and property owners to allow this
hawking,
The iniquitous system Of housing in
London deserves chapter itself. In this
letter will merely give an idea of the hard
shin it entails
The workman is either a householder or
a lodger. If he possibly can he will rent
a house, partly on speculation and partly
for some advantages it brings, Some
times he is able to relet, sometimes not.
Some OF his tenants run away without pay
ing and others stay without paying and
few pay. Very often. indeed, he has 70
pay the whole rent, a matter Of from Is
to 25 shllings a week. out of his income
Of 80 at the best of times The Continental
block buildings may not be ideal places TO
live in, but they are preferable to the so-
called London cottage in its present form.