The men were formed into a distinct body, and established in houses
taken for them in Ham-yard, Great Windmill-street, Haymarket.
“The wages of the men,” states the Report, “were fixed at 12_s._ each
per week; that is, 9_s._ were charged for board and lodging, and 3_s._
were paid in money to each man on Saturday afternoon, out of which he
was expected to pay for his clothing and washing. The men had provided
for them clean wholesome beds and bedding, a common sitting-room, with
every means of ablution and personal cleanliness, including a warm
bath once a week. Their food was abundant and of the best quality,
viz., coffee and bread and butter for breakfast, at eight o’clock;
round of beef, bread, and vegetables, four times a week for dinner, at
one o’clock; nutritious soup and bread, or bread and cheese, forming
the afternoon repast of the other three days. At six in the evening,
when they returned from their labours, they were refreshed with tea or
coffee, and bread and butter; or for supper, at nine, each had a large
basin of soup, with bread. Thus, three-fourths of their wages being
laid out for them to advantage, the men were well lodged and fed; and
they have always declared themselves satisfied, comfortable, and happy,
under the arrangements that were made for them. Under the charge of
their intelligent and active superintendent, the street-orderlies soon
fell into a state of the most exact discipline and order; and when
old orderlies were drafted off, either to enter the service of parish
boards who adopted the system, or were recommended into service, or
some other superior position in life, and when new recruits came to
supply their places, the latter found no difficulty in conforming to
the rules laid down for the performance of their duties, as well as for
their general conduct. ‘Military time’ regulated their hours of labour,
refreshment, and rest; due attention was required from all; and each
man (though a scavenger) was expected to be cleanly in his person, and
respectful in his demeanour; indeed, nothing could be more gratifying
than the conduct of these men, both at home and abroad.”
“In their domicile in Ham Yard,” continues the Report, “the
street-orderlies have invariably been encouraged to follow pursuits
which were useful and improving, after their daily labours were at
an end; for this, a small library of history, voyages, travels, and
instructive and entertaining periodical works, was placed at their
disposal; and it is truly gratifying to the Council to be able to
state, that the men evinced great satisfaction, and even avidity,
in availing themselves of this source of intellectual pleasure and
improvement. Writing materials also were provided for them, for the
purpose of practice and improvement, as well as for mutual instruction
in this most necessary and useful art; and it must be gratifying to
the members of the Association to be informed, that, in April last, 34
out of 40 men appended their signatures, distinctly and well written,
to a document which was submitted to them. Such a fact will at least
prove, that when poor persons are employed, well fed, and lodged, and
cared for in the way of instruction, they do not always mis-spend their
time, nor, from mere preference, run riot in pot-houses and scenes of
low debauchery. It is to be borne in mind, however, that one-half of
these men were persons of almost every trade and occupation, from the
artizan to the shopman and clerk, and therefore previously educated;
the other half consisted of labourers and persons forsaken and indigent
from their birth, and formerly dependent on workhouse charity or chance
employment for their scanty subsistence; consequently in a state of
utter ignorance as to reading and writing.
“Every night, after supper, prayers were read by the superintendent;
and it has frequently been a most edifying as well as gratifying sight
to members of your Council, as well as to other persons of rank and
station in society, who have visited the Hospice in Ham Yard at that
interesting hour, to observe the decorum with which these poor men
demeaned themselves; and the heartfelt solemnity with which they joined
in the invocations and thanks to their Creator and Preserver!
“Each Sunday morning, at 8 o’clock, a portion of the church service
was read, followed by an extemporaneous discourse or exhortation by
the secretary to the Hospice. They were marshalled to church twice on
the Sabbath, headed by the superintendent and foremen; and generally
divided into two or three bodies, each taking a direction to St.
James’s, St. Anne’s, or St. Paul’s, Covent Garden; in all of which
places of worship they had sitting accommodation provided by the
kindness of the clergy and churchwardens. On Tuesday evenings they had
the benefit of receiving pastoral visits and instruction from several
of the worthy clergymen of the surrounding parishes.”
This is all very benevolent, but still very wrong. There is but one
way of benefiting the poor, viz., by developing their powers of
self-reliance, and certainly not in treating them like children.
Philanthropists always seek to do too much, and in this is to be found
the main cause of their repeated failures. The poor are expected to
become angels in an instant, and the consequence is, they are merely
made _hypocrites_. Moreover, no men of any independence of character
will submit to be washed, and dressed, and fed like schoolboys;
hence none but the worst classes come to be experimented upon. It
would seem, too, that this overweening disposition to play the part
of _ped-agogues_ (I use the word in its literal sense) to the poor,
proceeds rather from a love of power than from a sincere regard for the
people. Let the rich become the advisers and assistants of the poor,
giving them the benefit of their superior education and means--but
_leaving the people to act for themselves_--and they will do a great
good, developing in them a higher standard of comfort and moral
excellence, and so, by improving their tastes, inducing a necessary
change in their habits. But such as seek merely to _lord it_ over those
whom distress has placed in their power, and strive to bring about
the _villeinage_ of benevolence, making the people the philanthropic,
instead of the feudal, serfs of our nobles, should be denounced as the
arch-enemies of the country. Such persons may mean well, but assuredly
they achieve the worst towards the poor. The curfew-bell, whether
instituted by benevolence or tyranny, has the same degrading effect on
the people--destroying their principle of self-action, without which we
are all but as the beasts of the field.
Moreover, the laying out of the earnings of the poor is sure, after a
time, to sink into “a job;” and I quote the above passage to show that,
despite the kindest management, eleemosynary help is _not_ a fitting
adjunct to the industrial toil of independent labourers.
_The residences of the street-orderlies_ are now in all quarters where
unfurnished rooms are about 1_s._ 9_d._ or 2_s._ a week. The addresses
I have cited show them residing in the outskirts and the heart of the
metropolis. The following returns, however, will indicate the ages, the
previous occupations, the education, church-going, the personal habits,
diet, rent, &c., of the class constituting the street-orderlies, better
than anything I can say on the matter.
Before any man is employed as a street-orderly, he is called upon
to answer certain questions, and the replies from 67 men to these
questions supply a fund of curious and important information--important
to all but those who account the lot of the poor of _no_ importance. In
presenting these details, I beg to express my obligations to Mr. Colin
Mackenzie, the enlightened and kindly secretary of the Association.
I shall first show what is the order of the questioning, then what were
the answers, and I shall afterwards recapitulate, with a few comments,
the salient characteristics of the whole.
The questions are after this fashion; the one I adduce having been
asked of a scavager to whom a preference was given:--
_The Parish of St. Mary, Paddington.--Questions asked of Parish
Scavagers, applying for employment as Street-Orderlies, with the
answers appended._
Name?--W---- C----.
Age?--35 years.
How long a scavenger?--Three months.
What occupation previously?--Gentleman’s footman.
Married or single?--Married.
Reading, writing, or other education?--Yes.
Any children?--One.
Their ages?--Three years.
Wages?--Nine shillings per week.
Any parish relief?--No.
_What and how much food the applicants have usually purchased in a
week._