THE LONDON POOR.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5390, 6 July 1878, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE LONDON POOR.

A writer in the Boston Journal thus speaks of the poor of London ;—There is no uolor in any of the faces of the people - in this section, unless it be the bloom bestowed by drink. A dull pallor is set upon the cheeks. ■ Early death is wrifcteu upon hundreds of brows. But the most discouraging feature is the content which it is easy to discover in every visage. These people know no better existence, and they consequently care for none better. For .them no lecture courses exist in which they can be instructed and fascinated; church is a vague formality, good enough for wealthy folk, but not worth much to the poor ; the theatre is a pleasure which they take greedily, when they are not too tired by their long , day’s work to go to it, but their main idea of enjoyment is the gratification of the grosser senses. And their seems no restraint on the women are without safeguards and conscious of their degradation ; a large nuniH*’ * of the men are brutal, thoughtless, indifferent. There is taleut, perhaps genuine, among these toiling folds ; but one may readily fancy that it is stifled,, stamped out by the hideous surroundings. At night there are schools, none too many, alas ! and there is the “Royal Polytechnic,” which these people might attend if they choose, but they cannot spare time from the theatre and the public-house to attend * more advantageous places. The workmen and - ' workwomen are barely comfortable, and nearly all look shabby, but their lot is paradise as compared with that of hundreds in the section, who are the slaves of poverty. That they live at all is a mystery ; and how they live is past finding out. The last atom of their self respect has long ago vanished and they beg as readily as they spend the proceeds of their beggary for drink.