Crime -- England -- London; London (England) -- Social conditions; Poor -- England -- London
Well, out they must go! and it is certain that there is at present no
place for them!
Places must be prepared for them, and local authorities must prepare
them. Let them address themselves to this matter and no longer shirk
their duty with regard to the housing of the poor. Let them stop for
ever the miserable pretence of housing the poor that they at present
pursue. For be it known that they house "respectable" people only, those
that have limited families and can pay a high rental.
If local authorities cannot do it, then the State must step in and
help them, for it must be done. It seems little use waiting for private
speculation or philanthropic trusts to show us the way in this matter,
for both want and expect too high an interest for their outlay. But a
good return will assuredly be forthcoming if the evil be tackled in a
sensible way.
Let no one be downhearted about new schemes for housing the poor not
paying! Why, everything connected with the poor from the cradle to the
grave is a source of good profit to some one, if not to themselves.
Let a housing plan be big enough and simple enough, and I am certain
that it will pay even when it provides for the very poor. But old ideals
will have to be forsaken and new ones substituted.
I have for many years considered this question very deeply, and from
the side of the very poor. I think that I know how the difficulty can
be met, and I am prepared to place my suggestions for housing the poor
before any responsible person or authority who would care to consider
the matter.
Perhaps it is due to the public to say here that one of the greatest
sorrows of my life was my inability to make good a scheme that a rich
friend and myself formulated some years ago. This failure was due to the
serious illness of my friend, and I hope that it will yet materialise.
But, in addition to the housing, there are other matters which affect
the vigour and virility of the poor. School days must be extended till
the age of sixteen. Municipal playgrounds open in the evening must be
established. If boys and girls are kept at school till sixteen, older
and weaker people will be able to get work which these boys have, but
ought not to have. The nation demands a vigorous manhood, but the nation
cannot have it without some sacrifice, which means doing without child
labour, for child labour is the destruction of virile manhood.
Emigration is often looked upon as the great specific. But the
multiplication of agencies for exporting the young, the healthy, and
the strong to the colonies causes me some alarm. For emigration as at
present conducted certainly does not lessen the number of the unfit and
the helpless.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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