East London . ingby ill-considered schemesof ill-informed benevolence. These are general order to carry out itswork in detail, the HelpingHand looks after the chil-dren in their homes, whilethe Board-school looksafter their teaching; it pro-vides cases for the hospital,and aids the parish authori-ties during sickness in thehome; it introduces the so-cial side into the lives ofthe better sort; it devisesattractions for the youngpeople who stand at theparting of the ways, wheretemptation is strong andthe primrose path is brightwith flowers; it teaches thelads a trade, and the girls alov
East London . ingby ill-considered schemesof ill-informed benevolence. These are general order to carry out itswork in detail, the HelpingHand looks after the chil-dren in their homes, whilethe Board-school looksafter their teaching; it pro-vides cases for the hospital,and aids the parish authori-ties during sickness in thehome; it introduces the so-cial side into the lives ofthe better sort; it devisesattractions for the youngpeople who stand at theparting of the ways, wheretemptation is strong andthe primrose path is brightwith flowers; it teaches thelads a trade, and the girls alove for the quiet life; it wages war with the public house andthe street; it endeavors to bring back the lowest strata to asense of religion which they have come to think the peculiarand rather unaccountable propert_y of class; it bringsfriendliness among folk wdio have only known the order ofthe policeman. These are some of the functions which to-day are exer-cised by the Helping Hand. In East London we can see. The New Whitechapel Art Gallery. (The building to the right is a free library.) THE HELPING HAND 323 the hand at work with greater energy, wiser supervision, andin directions more varied than in any other city of GreatBritain. I do not venture, for the obvious reason of igno-rance, upon comparison with American cities, but I shouldthink that we have in East London, with its vast populationof working-people of all kinds, ranging from the highly-paidforeman to the casual hand, the lad of the street, the wastrel,and the wreck, a mass of humanity which is not paralleledanywdiere, and a corresponding amount of philanthropic en-deavor which it would be impossible to equal elsewhere. In this immense multitude there are many slums of theworst kind; but they are now much fewer, and they are muchless offensive, than they were; the most terrible of the plaguespots seem to have been improved away; to find the real oldslum, the foul, indescribable human pigsty, one must nolonger look
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