_Vice-President for Mercy and Help Department_. INWOOD LODGE, PINE ISLAND N.H. _August_ 1893 AUTHOR'S PREFACE This volume had its origin in experiences which came to me in the daily duties of a city pastorate. The inadequate wages received by some of the members of my own congregation, and the impoverished and unhealthy surroundings of many of the poor people who came for me to christen their children, pray with their sick, or bury their dead, so aroused my sympathy for the victims, and my indignation against the cruel or indifferent causes of their misery, that I determined upon a thorough and systematic investigation of the conditions of life among the worthy Boston poor. By the word "worthy" I do not mean to indicate a class of saints, but the poor people of the city who are willing and anxious to exchange honest hard work for their support. I have not, in the series of studies here presented, entered into a discussion of the vicious and criminal classes. I have tried to perform, as it seemed to me, a far more important task--to make a plea for justice on behalf of the crushed, and often forgotten, victims of greed, who work and starve in their cellars and garrets rather than beg or steal. The larger part of the matter contained in these pages was originally delivered in a series of discourses from the pulpit of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, South Boston, and retains here the direct form of the spoken address. I desire to make a personal acknowledgment to some who have given me great assistance in making the investigations, the results of which are here recorded. I am greatly indebted to Mr. B. O. Flower, Editor of _The Arena_, for many kindnesses, and especially for the use of several interesting illustrations originally prepared for the magazine over which he so ably and gracefully presides. The Rev. Walter J. Swaffield, of the Boston Baptist Bethel, the Rev. C. L. D. Younkin, of the North End Mission, the Rev. Geo. L. Small, of the Mariners' House, the Rev. John G. May, of the Italian Mission, and that indefatigable reformer, Mrs. Alice N. Lincoln, have each put me under great obligations by their unwearying kindness and willing assistance. I am also greatly indebted to Mr. Sears Gallagher, the brilliant young South Boston artist, and to the veteran photographer of Boston Highlands, Mr. W. H. Partridge, for many courtesies in connection with the illustrations which illumine these chapters. LOUIS ALBERT BANKS. BOSTON, _September_ 15, 1891. CONTENTS I. THE WHITE SLAVES OF THE BOSTON "SWEATERS" II. LETTER OF CRITICISM III. REPLY TO A CRITICISM ON "THE WHITE SLAVES OF THE BOSTON SWEATERS" IV. THE PLAGUE OF THE SWEAT-SHOP V. THE RELATION OF WAGES TO MORALS VI. THE WAGES AND TEMPTATIONS OF WORKING-PEOPLE VII. BOSTON'S UNCLE TOM'S CABIN VIII. SOCIAL MICROBES IN BOSTON TENEMENT HOUSES, AND HOW TO DESTROY THEM IX. OLD WORLD TIDES IN BOSTON X. OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THE BOSTON PAUPERS