THE AGED POOR OF EAST LONDON.
[To TIM EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR."1 Si,—With the prospect of a hard winter before ire, and the sufferings of the poor more vividly in our minds than perhaps they have ever been before, some of your readers may thank me for bringing to their notice the claims of a charity which has justified its existence by ten years of successful working. To the aged and helpless, whose poverty has been proved to be the result not of improvidence but of misfortune, the most rigid philanthropist may safely offer kindly sympathy, and the means of decent support ; and all who feel that they have any duty at all towards their poorer neighbours will agree as to the good of helping to maintain examples of thrift, order, and clean- liness in the midst of the poorest and worst districts of East London. It is to such as these that the Tower Hamlets Pension Committee sends its lady-almoners to distribute week by week the few shilling which suffice to keep each old man or woman from the workhouse, and render them happy in the prospect of "dying at home."
The Committee confines its operations to those districts where outdoor relief is not given ; it subjects to careful inquiry each case brought before it, and it bears its own expenses, every penny subscribed going direct to the poor. The pensioners now number one hundred, and funds are greatly needed. Yearly subscriptions of 10s. and upwards are specially welcome, as enabling the Committee to continue their work without the necessity of constantly recurring appeals for help. Contribu- tions may be sent to the Treasurer, A. G. Crowder, Esq., 65 Portland Place, W.; or to the Secretary, Miss Townsend, 28 Commercial Street, E., from whom reports and all information may be obtained.—I am, Sir, Ste., December 13th. P. D. TOWNSEND.
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