32
DESPERATE SITUATION OF
r. . . . . . . . --------------------t 1 rurso and say 'No' to. the appeals ot East I ures than In the previous Novem- IBSPilHxO I
J London. If for three wjeeks all the splen- ( ber. Trade has expanded simulta- vvtMWstCT i! ffFJ? 4J?JE.
THE GIGAHTIO PBOBLEM OP THE UNEMPLOYED.
The problem of the hour in England is that of the unemployed.
The distress throughout the United Kingdom is declared to be the
worst on record. The severe weather in the early -weeks of the Winter,
the generally bad state of trade and the crop famine in Ireland are
tbe causes of the present terrible condition. The estimate of the
unemployed and starving of about two and one-half millions is con
servative. Some estimates have declared the figures nearer six
millions. Premier Balfour, appealed to call an extra session of Parlia
ment in order to pass remedial measures, has refused. In all the 28
boroughs of London the ilayors and Councils have started extra works.
In other cities the municipality is doing its utmost to supply work of
some kind. Many are giving away free meals. In Leeds 23,000
meals per day are given. Newspapers in the provinces have started
penny subscription funds. Important cities such as Liverpool and
Manchester have declared in public meeting that a special session of
Parliament is urgently needed. Other sections are sending in petitions
and enough pressure may be given to force an extra sessionv Daily
the newspapers contain stories of death from starvation and as the
result of t .posure. The Queen is about to institute a fund for the
relief which will be of a national character. Mr. Keir Hardie, M. P.,
deals in an article with a solution of the problem and the American
Duchess of Marlborough tells of a way to relieve immediate wants in
a local way.
LONDON, Jan. 5. (Special Correspond
ence of The Sunday Oregonlan.) "If
you had. any pluck In you, you
wouldn't stand it; you'd revolt. D n
Balfour and all his class of politicians.
They'd revolt to 24 hours If they were In
your position. Don't hido yourselves in
your garrets. Bring terror Into the West
End, and they'll listen to you then."
So spoke a demagogue, Jack Williams,
to some 2000 or 3000 forlorn wretches gath
ered around the base of Nelson's monu
ment In Trafalgar Square the other after
noon. Policemen heard him and grinned.
Scotland Yard had made its preparations
to deal with anything that went beyond
that most cherished of an Englishman's
privileges free speech. The mob cheered
the speaker, scowled at the stalwart
guardians of the law and dispersed to
their garrets, convinced that broken
heads would' not alleviate the pangs ot
hunger.
Tct had John Burns. Will Crooke. Keir
Hardie and other leaders of labor in and
out ot Parliament, who ignored the meet
ing, attended It, and brought with them
their followers, and appealed to them In
the same Incendiary strain. It would have
required more than the police of London
to hold in check the thousands of the un
employed who would have flocked to
them. The West End would have been
for worse terrorized then than it was In
$5, when, starting front the same Square,
& Socialistic mob went rioting through
the streets of swelldom. It is hardly an
exaggeration to cay sober-minded Eng
lishmen who know the English temper
well have said it that it is the restrain
ing influence exercised by men in whom
the suffering poor have confidence which
stands this Winter between law and rev
olution in London.
On the Verge of Starvation.
At the present time London presents the
most amazing and appalling spectacle in
all Christendom. In the richest, the most
populous and most charitable city In the
world 200,000 people are out of work and
living on the verge of starvation. Every
night some 3000 shivering and destitute
wretches wander through the streets hun
gry and shelrerlesfe. These statements
are not based on the wild figures of some
Irresponsible alarmist. They appeared in
a plain presentation of facts made by
Colin X. Campbell, social secretary of
the Church Army, at a meeting of wealthy
titled folk held by invitation of the Duke
of Westminster richest of London s land
lords at Grosvenor House. It resulted in
eliciting two checks for $300 each, two for
$250 each, a number for minor amounts,
and a lot of orders for kindling wood, by
the chopping of which, for two hours.
penniless men earn a meal and a night's
lodging. Scant charity this, considering
the resources of those appealed to, but
had the contributions been ten-fold larger
the result would have been hardly appre
ciable in diminishing the present suffering
of the vast army ot the unemployed, and
tho3 dependent -on theai. The best that
charity can do can furnish only temporary
palliatives .and postpone the application of
somo remedy that will strike at the root
of the evlrr
"I could almost wlah.'r writes Harold
Begble, "that charity would shut up its
THE SUNDAY QKEGONIAN, PORTLAB, JASUABY 22, 305.
J did agencies tor succoring the poor were j neously with a great increase of the bk: PV ff v I
I J wholly paralyzed If every philanthropic ' unemployed. Simultaneously appear XNPBBrJP'? tr&i? rf?& I
I I door at which they are now accustomed I loud proclamations to the world at j 'BBSGhS- ILVciX J.,rjifJCSC l j
did agencies for succoring the poor were
wholly paralyzed If every philanthropic
door at which they are now accustomed
to knock were fast shut against the sick,
the hungry and homeless then, r think,
swiftly and finally, a storm would break
over Westminster which would shatter
and destroy the reign of thinking Inepti
tude. The need of the hour is a states
man."
Charity's Doles.
Bead between the lines, there Is not
much difference between this address
of the polished man ot letters to cul
tured Intelligence and the speech of
the demagogue to the victims of hard
times and .social conditions. Both re
gard the present ministry with con
tempt. Both are in agreement that it
Is eminently desirable somothing
should happen which would compel a
serious effort to prevent such stupen
dous misery and destitution, instead
ot resting content with the doling out
of charity that thus far has barely
sufficed to stave off actual starvation
among thousands.
Winter in London is always accom
panied by heartrending scenes ot mis
ery and distress, but not for long
years has there been anything ap
proaching the present destitution.
Many of the leaders of the various
agencies predict .that matters will .be
come much worse before the Winter
ends. Already all the workhouses are
filled. Thousands are in receipt of out
door relief. Every charitable organ
ization is straining its resources to
the utmost and issuing pitiable ap
peals for funds to enable them to meet
the increasing demands upon them.
The Salvation Army and the Church
Army keep a legion of poor wretches
from famishing. The several Metro
politan Borough Councils have started
relief works. A Mansion House fund
has been opened, to which the King
has contributed S7G2.50; Lord Iveagh,
the rich brewer, $25,000, and the
Messrs. Rothschild $15,000. All that
charity can be Induced to do is being.,
done. And yet withal, according to
one authority, Dr. Horton. 120,000 ill
clad and -under-fed children appear
dally at the free schools to wrestle
simultaneously with elementary edu
cation and hunger.
Trade Expands While Destitution In
creases. The destitution is not confined to
London. It Is spread all over the
United Kingdom. It has been est!
mated that at tho present time there
are over 500,000 men out ot work In
what are termed the provinces. In an
other column of the Sdtea paper which
published these figures appeared the
Board ot Trade returns for -the last 11
months, .gleefully paraded as proof that
all was well economically with- England.
The figures for these months show
that Imports have Increased by nearly
$40,000,000. and exports by nearly $S2,
000.000, with a similar period for 1903.
The expansion in trade has not been
confined to a few months; It Is spread
over all of them. The figures lor No
vember, when the black clouds of flis
tress had cast a gloom over the land,
show better trade conditions as finan
ciers ere aecufitosaed to Interpret fig'
ENGLAND'S. POOR
neously with a great increase of the
unemployed. Simultaneously appear
loud proclamations to the world at
large, based on statistics, that Eng
land Is prosperous and holding her own ,
with commercial rivals, and frantic
appeals . to charitable folk at home to
succor the multitude who are on the
verge of starvation for help to stave
off the hunger madness and bread riots.
Obviously, it would seem that there is
something horribly wrong, in the in
dustrial system which brings prosper
ity to a few and hunger to" the multi
tude. Anyhow, that is bow it strikes
the latter and many others in England
who are opposed to the policy of Just
letting things drift.
2,500,000 in the Coils of Hunger.
It certainly lent point to the appeal
made by several M. P.'s to the Premier
to summon a special session of Parlia
ment .to consider the matter, to treat
it as a national question and strive to
devise some remedy for It other than
mere temporary' stop-gap measures.
Mr. Balfour declined. He replied, In
effect, that he favored the continua
tion, ot the. palliative treatment. He
had a very high opinion of Parliament
and of the value of Parliamentary dis
cussion, but Parliament was hardly
capable of "framing a constructive
policy." Which seems to Justify the
contemptuous comment ot Mr. Crooks,
a Member of Parliament himself, that
"Parliament is all gas."
Taking the latest Board of Trade figures
on unemployed as -a basis on a very mod
erate estimate, there were in November
there are many more thousands now
750,000 out of work. Assuming that only
one-half ot these ore married men with
families, that means 2,500,000 men, women
and children In England In the coils of
hunger, cold and despair. The amount of
suffering and moral and physical deterior
ation which such figures represent is be
yond the power of imagination to realize.
And this, too, in a year of trade expan
sionof what Is called national prosper
ity! Yet the government calmly declines
to treat It as a national question, or to
summon Parliament to consider it. It is
one of' those mountainous problems that
inevitably grows bigger the longer an ef
fort to solve it Is postponed. Meanwhile
the unemployed Are straining at the leash.
It Is hardly realized In America what
abnormal social conditions h&va resulted
from the ever-increasing separation of the
pecple from the land, and the sacrifice of
agricultural to manufacturing interests.
Since 1S50 the number of people employed
In cultivating the land has decreased by
2.234.000, while the population has in the
same period vastly Increased. They lie
huddled together in. gross lumps with.
hardly room to turn round. Every year
thousands of acres pass out of cultivation.
and an Increasing stream of people swarm
to inc. overcrowaea ciues. .cngiana uie
land ot England is owned-by an Infini
tesimal residue of the population which Is
crammed within its borders. It has
passed from the people. A few thousand
individuals hold It filL
The Bitter Cry fer Food.
What has been the result? According
to" x "report made by a Parliamentary
committee In 1S02 there are 21.0CO,O8Q acres
ot !e4 lyter-waate In Great Britain. Over
two and a quarter millions of people are
In sore straits to keep hunger at bay.
and land in abundance, on which they
might themselves or many of tbcm at
least produce tho food they need, now
yields nothing. The cry that now re
sounds throughout London throughout
England Is for food money to buy food
for the workless. "Every unemployed
man, be he Duke or docker," says Sir
John Gorst, "should be set to work pro
ducing food." But, say the advocates of
tms metned of making tnc uncmpioyeu
self-supporting, land necessary for the
establishment of such a system can only
be acquired by government aid and gov
ernment machinery. Private philanthropy
is unequal to the task. What Harold Beg
ble characterizes as "thinking Ineptitude"
turns a deaf ear to such appeals. Last
year England's butter, bacon, cheese and
egg bill, paid to foreign producers,
amounted to $214,000,000. It Is confidently
asserted that under proper management
England herself cculd supply the greater
ESTIMATED UNEMPLOYED LS
UNITED KINGDOM.
London "59,660
England (oataide of London) 1,109,660
Scotland 568.666
Ireland 159.GW
Wales o,eeo
In the cities 2,266,066
In the country 349,666
Death from a tar-ration aad
wapt 100 per week
part of such foods. Anyhow, It Is urged.
It would be far better to set unemployed
applicants for relief at such work Instead
of "restricting them to picking oakum,
breaking stones or chopping kindling
wood.
Another scheme which has been put
forward for relieving the strain ot on
overstocked labor market arid providing
a- profitable national investment is the
afforestation ot waste lands. It finds
many able supporters who point to the ex
ample of Germany, where the forest In-
dustries are under state- -control, and
Vteld a. uroflt to the SOVCrnmeilt Of $90,000.-
tCO annually besides supporting 400.000
workmen and their families. England Im-
ported last year SISO.000,000 worth, of tim
ber, of which S105.CiOO.000 went for firewood.
The latter, at least. It Is stated by com
petent authorities, could, all be raised on
land now lying waste.
In 1SSS, a Parliamentary committee re
ported in favor of such a scheme, but
nothing came of it, as usual. And noth
ing is likely to ome of It now. unless
the leash gives way. But the cry of tke
More Than Two Millions of
the Lack
idle lands for the idle hands will have
to- be heeded some day. Some means will
have to be found for checking the depopu
lation of the land and repopulating it,
and making it productive.
Of the scenes, of misery and suffering
ByJ. K. Hardie, Member Parliament
THE difficulty ot dealing with the prob
lem of the unemployed In England is
two-fold.
0) The community has not yet accepted
the idea that the state is responsible for
putting useful work at remunerative
wages within the reach of every compe
tent citizen.
(2) There is a. tendency to deal with
the unemployed problem, as if it referred
to wastrels and looters.
These, however, are the products of
unemployment. Before we can get .rid
of their presence we must tap the source
whence they come. I would leave them
to be dealt with by the poor-law authori
ties, conferring upon the latter such pow
ers as might be necessary.
I am mainly concerned with, the capable
and willing worker who is deprived of
on opportunity of working for 'his living.
If we con deal with him, tne tramp and
the loafer problem will very soon assume
very small dimensions:
The question must be regarded from
two points: (a) Immediate relief for
those who ore on the verge of starvation;
and (b) some permanent and systematic
attempt to grapple with the whole ques
tion. The educational authorities should
provide meals for children attending
schools In all the poor districts. Those
who can pay should be charged; those
who cannot should have free tickets.
Salaries to Mayors a Solution.
Another way to provide funds, and one
which has been adopted in Bradford,
Yorkshire, is for tho borough council to
vote a salary to its Mayor on the under
standing that he devotes the money to
this purpose.
Next the government, acting through
! h Pimmll(m,ro of Wnni! ani VnrMtK.
j or the Commissioners of Crown Lands,
should acquire three large estates one.
say. In Wales, one In the Midlands and
one in Scotland and at once employ men
In the preparation of these for the pur
poses ot afforestation.
Had the Prime Minister acceded to the
request for a. special session to 'consider
the question oS the unemployed, this
would have been among the proposals
submitted to Parliament.
Without waiting tor Parliament to meet
People Are Suffering From
of Food.
In London, pages might be written and
still they would convey only z faint idea
of the reality. In one district alone. West
Ham. the authorities report 50.000 are in
the direst want. Many of the houses are
bare, not merely ot furniture, but of
food, and in such circumstances as these
starving women, lying upon the boards ot
an empty room, have brought infants
Into a world unwilling to receive them.
Shoeless and in rags, hundreds ot chil
dren go hungry to morning school. In
the playgrounds they do not Indulge in
the healthy rough-and-tumble games that
characterize the pastimes of the well
nourished child. They stand shivering In
the cold arid damp, dragging their miser
able clothing closer around them for
warmth. The cosy schoolrooms are ver
itable heavens for them, for many have
no fires at home, and they make up for
their restless, comfortless tossing at
nlsht by falling asleep in school-
"I have not the heart to wake him."
said one teacher, indicating a little bare
footed fellow fast asleep at 10 in the
morning. "Poor, little chap, he has a.
rough time of it! He goes to, the dock
gates in the afternoons and begs food
from the men fortunate enough to be re
turning from work."
Most ot the pawnshops are full and re
fuse to accept more pledges, so that this
last resource of the destitute; is denied
them. Many empty houses have btcn
broken into by homeless wretches that
they might at least find shelter, and pos
sibly sleep, on bare floors and wooden
j benches. Les3 fortunate than these, on
! bitter nights when the spectacle of a.
homeless dog would awaken pity, scores
of human derelicts may be seen huddled
together for warmth on the seats and
benches, or stretched out on the bare
grounds In the parks. The law requires
the police to keep them moving, but they
have not the heart to do it- They look
the other f&y and pass them, by-
In all of the slum districts similar
scenes are witnessed. Cases of actual
starvation are frequent, and In many
others, to which officialdom gives an
other name, lack of nourishment has
been the accelerating cause of death. One
poor woman, leaving her starving husband
In the empty, desolate house, sought all
day in vain for work. Convinced that
when she returned home her husband
would be dead, she decided to seek re
union with him in another world by
plunging into the Thames. One hesi
tates to describe her rescue as merciful.
When she was taken to her home it was
to find a. corpse on the garret floor. Such
is life in London in the opening days
ot the year of our Lord. 1905. (Copyright.
1SC5.) E. LISLE SNELL.
however, the Commissioners referred to
above have large areas at their disposal
upon which many hundreds of men might
be usefully employed.
In like manner the London City Coun
cil has vacant land in -various parts of
the metropolis, and this could be put to
use at once on the same lines as have
been so successfully tried in Philadelphia
and other large American cities.
American Plan Good.
The American plan is for a committee
of citizens to -obtain the right to use
such vacant land without paying rent.
There are now over 1000 men, most of
them married, at work in Philadelphia
cultivating these vacant lots.
The committee provides them with
maintenance and with Implements, eeed3
and plants. The produce, when It ripens,
is sold and the value handed over to those
who did the work.
Mr. Joseph Fels, one of the promoters
of this Idea in America, has offered some
thing of the kind in London, and the
Central Unemployed Committee is tak
ing this up as one branch of Its under
takings. Mr. Fels has bought 1000 acres
of land in Essex for the Committee.
When Parliament assembles I hope to
have more proposals ready to be sub
mitted, not only in regard to tho affor
estation scheme, but also for doubling
the number of families engaged In the
cultivation of the soil.
If 1,000.000 workers could be added to
those already engaged upon tho land,
with Incomes averaging 55 a week, we
should thereby increase the purchasing
power of the people by $23,00O,O0O a year,
which would go a long way toward re
lieving trade depression.
Since 1300 tho Incomes of the working
classes, by reduction in wages, unemploy
ment and short time, have been reduced
by $23,000000 a year, to which fact much
of the depression In trade may be traced.
Want More Philanthropists.
I would there were more men like Mr,
Fels to -help solve England's hardest prob
lem, and I would like to see them Eng
lishmen. It Is a crying shame that in
thie dire hour of need an American should
lead the way.
It Is some eight years since Mr. Fels
came to England. Success on both sides
Coacluel on Fage 37.)