The head of the Salvation Army made two speeches on
Wednesday, on his method of relieving the poor, which he seems to consider final. He alleges that in Limehouse last month the Army supplied 297,000 meals at a penny, 240,000 at a halfpenny, and 27,000 at a farthing,—the latter being eaten by little children alone ; and implies that as the people crowded to obtain these meals, they must have been hungry and have needed the relief. Why? any more than if the meals had been sold in a cheap restaurant ? The people simply crowd to the cheapest place. So long as the food is paid for, there is no objection to that ; but Mr. Booth admits that his kitchens or refuges are not self- supporting, the fittings at least being paid for by subscription, and does not seem to see that to that extent he is giving doles, and thereby pauperising all who eat. If he is right, it would be still more right to give a meal to all who asked for one, the quickest and most certain method of demoralisation con- ceivable. The Creator did not ordain that wheat should not grow except as a return for toil, without a disciplinary in- tention; and a world in which food was needless would be a world without the training of effort, a world of do-nothings and sluggards.
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