The Hackney Guardians have tried an interesting expert. ment. They
lately sent fifty able-bodied paupers to General Booth's Farm Colony at Hadleigh, in order to see if they could be turned by the Salvation Army's methods into useful citizens. Nineteen very soon returned to the workhouse, most of them having been dismissed for drunkenness. Others left from various causes, but at the end of the experimental period there was a virtuous residuum of fourteen. It is stated that these men have improved, and are really anxious to earn their own livings. The Guardians are sufficiently satisfied with the result to make them anxious to send another batch of paupers. They propose in future only to pay General Booth for the drat six months of the pauper's residence at Hadleigh. That =seems a reasonable proposal. We hope the experiment will be further developed. We do not see why pauper spade. labour should not be applied on a large scale to Essex. It would benefit both the land and the paupers.
Previous page
