--poor men and women and boys and
girls, dwelling as they do nine and ten and even more in a room--that
room the only place for them to eat and sleep in. It is astonishing
how good and pure the boys and girls come out of such homes; but there
the evil is, and it is not getting better, it is getting worse; every
year makes it worse. And as we face it what are we to do? I do
sometimes think, my friends, you who come from comfortable homes, you
who belong to the better class, and are going from this Church to
beautiful homes of your own, do not realize what it is to those
brothers and sisters of yours to have only one little room to live in,
what immorality it must lead to, and does lead to, what terribly
stunted frames among the children, and what stunted characters. We
have been, some of us, for weeks past, considering, in conference, the
great problem. One of the best experts, who has studied the question
for years, has made up his mind that the most hopeful remedy is to have
from the centre of our great city, to every part of the great
circumference of London, underground and overground means of transit to
whirl away from the centre to something which may be called home the
poor people who work for us. Others are still in favour of building in
the slums better buildings at a cheap rate, which, as a Conservative
paper this week advocated, should be helped by the State. But the
point is this: Whatever plan is fixed upon by the experts and those
responsible, are we ready to rise to it? Does the law of kindness
touch us in our municipal work? Are we prepared, as a great Christian
city, to rise to the self-sacrifice which it involves? We believe that
all these schemes eventually will pay, but undoubtedly at the first
there may be a call upon the self-sacrifice of Londoners to carry them
out. And I would ask you to put it to your consciences whether we
should gauge the rates only according to their amount. We have to
watch carefully whether our public money is wasted, we have to take our
share in deciding what shall be done, but we have also to consider when
we are called upon as Christian citizens, to pay a little more towards
a well-considered scheme to cure one of the most terrible evils in our
midst, whether the law of kindness does not bid us do so. Let us send
this week on to our central Council--by whatever party name they call
themselves--men who have the time and the brains, and, above all, the
heart, to