The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 1888. THE DESTITUTE POOR.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1748, 9 June 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 1888. THE DESTITUTE POOR.

■ It is sad to think, that m the city of ■ Christchurch—and indeed in all the cities of the colony—at the present time, men, women, and children roam homeless,' houseless, and hungry through the dark, cold, bleak, dreary nights without a place whereon today their heads. Comfortably-housed and well-fed people talk glibly of the unemployed, and class them as drunkards, loafers, and idlers, whq would not work if they bad it to do. Doubtless there are many of them deserving of very little sympathy, for in many instances they have contributed largely to th'eir own misfortunes, more by improvidence than by indolence. The average working man of this colony is perhaps as good a workman as will be found in any country, but he neyer thinks of the future. Whilst a shilling remains in his pocket it is all sunshine with him; he never thinks of the rainy day, and makes no provision for it. There is more of this class about than of the idle loafer who will not work when ho can get it. The latter class is very small indeed, and composed principally of old men who are past work, or men who have not been brought up in early life to hard work. The man who spends his money foolishly deserves very little sympathy, and he would not require any if there were plenty of employment to be had, for as a general rule those who spend freely work hard,

and it is dearth of employment alonp that cian reduce such men to penury. The other class, who are not able to do hard work, and cannot find suitable employment, are fit objects of charity, but no one ought to give the slightest assistance to men who are able to work, and can get it to do, but will not do it. They are outside tbe pale, of •ympathy. At the present time, however, it appears that there are in our cities really honest, hard-working, steady men who have to sleep in the open air through want of ' means to provide shelter for themselves. They are willing and able to work, and they are known to have been good workmen, but the dearth of employment at present renders it impossible for them to make a living; These facts have been brought to light in Christchurch recently by a Mr T. Herrick, who appears to be a kind-hearted simpleminded man, and who has spent many a night out until two and three o’clock in' 'the morning looking after such people, and doing bis best to ameliorate their condition. He has found great destitution amongst working men, ■and he started the noble work of instituting a home for them. With this object in view he has called together the charitably disposed .people ! of' Christchurch, and a meeting of them Was held last Thursday under the presidency of the Mayor, There were about 50 persons present, and Mr Herrick was given every encouragement to proceed with the work. He proposes to establish a home where he can give a bed and breakfast to the really deserving. Only hard-working, honest, industrious men will be assisted, for no one known to be a loafer, or no one under the influence of drink, will be admitted. In addition to this, be proposes to visit the sick, to supply blankets to poor families, and clothing and boots to children, and to carry out this scheme he has appealed to the charity of the people of Christchurch, and we are, glad to learn he has not appealed in vain. Among the donations received was £5 from Mr R. J.\ Lougbnan, Editor of the Lyttelton Times—a fact which goes a great way to show why that paper has always espoused the cause of the poor and taken the Liberal side of politics. There were also a large number of ministers of religion present, and one aind all promised to support the movement. Mr Herrick deserves every credit for his humane undertaking, and : we hope he will be heartily supported. We cannot, however, help saying that it is ■ sad to think that in this beautiful colony* with all its great and glorious advantages, there are honest, hardr working men reduced to such a penurious condition as to , require assistance of this kind. And if such is the condition of single men, who have no families dependent on them, what must be the miseries of those who have families dependent on them ? Ho one knows, and many do not-care so long as they are comfortably housed and clothed themselves. They talk flippantly of the-unemployed, and rank them as loafers, and;they never give themselves the trouble of inquiring whether, this is true or false. Mr Herrick, who has inquired into these affairs, has found the poor in a miserably destitute condition ; he has made a noble effort to ameliorate their con-dition,-and we hope his labors will be crowned with the success they so well deserve. • 1

THE NEW LOA\ T ,

The news that* the New Zealand £2,000,000 loan! has been' successfully floated, is highly interesting, . and; possibly we have every reason to congratulate ourselves on it. Had; it not floated, .there can h|e no doubt but that wC should; have experienced a financial criaisj that.would 'have greatly changed the present aspect of things, Some of our monetary! institutions would have ,had utoi,(consider their position, and sell the land, they now hold locked up. This would have been a blessing, ■if or we never can have permanent |prosperity until the price of land is brought down, and; it is thoroughly settled. However, the' evil- day has been put off by the floating;of our t loan at ft fair rate, considering the extraordinary efforts that were putr forth by the English papers-to destroy its, chances. It has been subscribed for nearly four times over, which, shows, that the English people have plenty of confidence in us still, and that there is an enormous amount of money seeking! investment in England. This is greatly due to Mr Goschen’s recent financial scheme.' The best thing we can dojis to borrow on while we can, and then—but it, is better to remain silent in the meantime.