Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-16

ally. Even the morality OF the directors
of the workhouse was challenged. 1t was
found that hundreds of men had been pau
perized and were living on the hard-earned
taxes of their more self-respecting neigh
bors.
And thus the Crooks investigation has
proved a terrible boomerang. 1t has
knocked Crooks out of political life, It gave
handle to the opponents of The labor
party which they have used effectively.
London has recently been plastered with
posters referring to the Poplar mismanage-
ment and extravaganza. Mr.. Crooks oppo-
sition spent $4,000 on these posters. The
case has been brought home to the sup
porters of Crooks. While faith in Crooks
honesty has not been shaken, everyone
points to him today as socialist gone
wrong
One of the strangest features of the en-
tire situation Is the fact that Crooks had,
after all, certain method in his madness.
He hoped by calling attention to the power
.ty In Poplar to direct public thought to the
fact that there were thousands of good
working men in England today who cannot
make their living by any means. No one
who has not seen the poverty In London
can realize its gigantic proportions or it's
crying actually. It Is conservatively esti-
mated that there are upwards Of 100000
skilled laborers tramping London and its
suburbs today looking for work.
This immense industrial army" Crooks
said recently, 'is going to ruin. The Eng
lish government finds plenty of money to
build battleships or to indulge in other
schemes costing millions of money, but
when 1t comes to saving workingmen from
ruin nothing can be done.
In his own mind, Crooks had the idea
that by giving everybody some sort of help
he would advertise the fact Of the terrible
industrial situation. Instead, however, he
has brought down on his own head a tor
rent Of Misrepresentation and abuse. His
political enemies have jumped at his mis-
takes and made capital of them.
~
The truly needy, the homeless men who
spend their wretched lives looking for fit
full employment and even the hundreds of
hardworking, poverty stricken women who
resort to the Salvation Army shelters by
night and sleep in boxes on the floor, are
classed by the general public as takers
The entire industrial army of the unem-
ployed has been more or less discredited;
and the solution Of their problem along
socialistic lines seems farther off than
ever. Crooks with all his wonderful good
nature and personal integrity, has sgnally
failed to direct the right kind Of attention
to the crying need of the voorhees,. The
people whom Crooks has been working for
are left today in q more deplorable state
than ever.
This winter, the number of unemployed
will be greater than before; and the work
Unconstitutional the Crooks regime-will be
made difficult places to get into. Refugees
for the deserving poor will be more or less
closed; and every one who applies for ''out-
door relief will be regarded with a de-
gree of exacting suspicion more severe
than any time In the past.
Crooks himself fails to realize the gigan-
tic mistake that has been made by his
pauperising policy. Knowing that he him
SELL has not benefited an iota from the
spending of immense public funds in the
wrong direction, he fails to see that the
public who contributed these funds in the
past will be more exacting in the future.
Crooks knows that there is something
wrong with modern social conditions. He
openly denounces the landed class and de-
mands that few great landlords should
no longer decide the fate of 43, 100000 peo-
pie. He has given to his poor with a hand
so free that they have become educated
to regard it as their right. The recipients
Of these charitable requests forget that
they are paid for out Of the rates and
taxes wrung month by month from people
in their own neighborhood almost as poor
as themselves.
Overwhelmed by the torrent of criticism
that has been heaped upon him in the gov
eminent report issued by John Burns,
Crooks has attempted to retaliate by say
ing that it is personal spite on Burns part;
and that the inspector he sent to investi-
gate Poplar was unfair However, the
fact remains that thousands of the unde-
serving have lived on the community and
Crooks is held responsible for their moral
damage"
X
It is only Crooks past splendid record
that now saves him from retirement from
public life. His stanch friends all over
England have come to his rescue and up
hold his honor. Politically, however, he is
said to be as dead as the proverbial door
nall He is pointed out as the poor mans
of Incidence
The story of Crooks life has been often