How true it is that one half of the world
does not know how the other half lives I What misery, what wretchedness occurs in the very next street to that in which those dwell who would gladly relieve it if they but. knew of mitt What a case is that of which the' following extract is a part of the report ! The wife of a captain in the Navy (so he is described), !deserted by her husband, with six children, is reduced to be the guardian of one of those abodes of the demoralized poor where men and women sleep three in a bed, pay 2d. per night each, and the sheets are changed once a month, and where the landlord boasts of his respectability and the cleanliness of his sheets as compared,with similar establish- ments. She falls ill, and is banished to the attic—to starve, with her six children : the landlord is too humane to turn her out, but he cannot afford to feed her and her infants. Merry England ! wealthy and luxurious London ! what a moving bog of crime and penury thou art ! green on the surface, pleasant to the eye, and with many little islands of delight ; but below—all hollowness and perdition !
Can that be well-regulated polity where whole streets are in- habited by the devotees of crime ? where the haunts of beggary and wretchedness are neglected, and left to accumulate their filth ? and where, above all, Misfortune and crime are suffered to be constantly confounded, and are nearly always similarly treated ? A few thousands a year would provide a building, and all neces- sary accommodations, which would afford a neat and clean bed for the night, gratuitously, to every poor person that claimed it between certain hours ; in winter, fire in a hall ; and the contribu- tions of others, seeing the admirable nature of such a charity, might still further furnish a morning's meal. What numbers would such an establishment, well regulated and well looked after, save from despair, from disease, from crime, from death, and worse than death ! what a step would it be towards a preventive police ! And yet one benevolent old maid in death, a charitable bachelor, or some such man as the immortal GUY, might will the great good—perpetuate their own memory, and give a solid and substantial blessing to millions. But now to the story before the Magistrate at Worship Street. Mr. Broughton—" What is this house you keep ?"
Applicant—" A respectable lodging-house." Garton, the chief officer—".Your Worship, it's one of the many houses in that neighbourhood where they let out beds at 3d. and 4d. a night to any one ; and this is one of the respectable houses he speaks of." Mr. Broughton to the applicant—"' I am rather astonished that a man of your respectable appearance should degrade yourself so much as to keep a house of this description. Pray how many beds have you in a room ?"
Landlord—" From three to four. Your Worship, these are hard times, and we must live ; but I deny what your officer has said about the house not being respectable. I never allow any females to come into it, but I admit it's not very comfortable." Garton—" A few years ago we were ordered to visit these houses, and I assure your Worship the stench and filth on entering them was enough to knock you down." Mr. Broughton—" How many sleep in a bed ? " Landlord—" Sometimes two, sometimes 'three, who pay accordingly. If two, twopence each. I allow clean sheets every month." "Where does this unfortunate woman with her family sleep?"—" In the attic."
" Not in one bed, surely ? "—" Yes, all six." Mr. Broughton—" Boy, what have you had for breakfast to-day ? "- "Nothing, not any of us." " What had you yesterday ? "—" A half-quartern loaf amongst us all !"
Landlord—" They are in a desperate state. Never was such a scene exhibited to man as the one I have left. I can only account for the father having left them by supposing that, having turned smuggler, he has, per- haps, got drowned, or left the country." s A building of the kind suggested shmild be divided into wards : the apartments should be small, but airy ; the bedsteads of iron ; the doors strong, and they should be locked by the attendant at a certain hour, and opened with the light. No questions should be asked: the admission by right—simply on ringing a bell. The place should be cleared at a certain hour : the instant the building was empty, the bedclothes should be exposed to the air, and the whole place swept, and other means employed for'cleansing. Be- tween certain hours, any person of respectability should have the right of inspecting the establishment. The expense of establishing such a building would undoubtedly be great in the first instance ; but when once it was in operation, it might be carried on for very little.
Let no one say it would be an encouragement to idleness or crinr:: a man cannot live upon a .bed. It would be no induce- ment to do nothing to have a gratis bed ; but the person who can only afford a two-penny bed is the next door to crime—the idle man of to day is the criminal to-morrow. The corruption of the night is the great promoter of mischief, But this is only one of the many lights in which this project may be viewed.
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