 Section 50 of London Labour and the London Poor, Volume 2 by Henry Mayhew This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Gillian Henry. Off the street orderlies. Continued. Such then is a brief account of the rise and progress of this new mode of street sweeping and we now come to a description of the work itself. The orderlies, says the report of the association, keep the streets free from mud in winter and dust in summer, and that with the least possible personal drudgery, adhering to the principle of operation laid down, namely that of cleansing and keeping clean. They have merely after each morning sweeping and removal of dirt to keep a vigilant look out over the surface of street allotted to them and to remove with the hand brush and dustpan from any particular spot whatever dirt or rubbish may fall upon it at the moment of its deposit. Thus are the streets under their care kept constantly clean. But sweeping and removing dirt, continues the report, is not the only occupation of the street orderly whilst keeping up a careful inspection of the ground allotted to him. He is also the watchman of house property and shop goods and guardian of reticules, pocket books, purses and watch pockets. They experienced observer and detector of pickpockets. They ever ready, though unpaid, auxiliary to the police constable. Nay more, he is always at hand to render assistance to both equestrian and pedestrian. If a horse slip, stumble or fall, if a carriage break down or vehicles come into collision, the street orderly darts forward to raise and rectify them. If foot passengers be run over or knocked down or unconsciously loiter on a crossing, the street orderly rescues them from peril or death or warns them of the approaching danger of carriages driving in opposite directions. If other accidents befall pedestrians, if they fall on the pavement from sudden illness, faintness or apoplexy, the street orderly is at hand to render assistance or convey them to the nearest surgery or hospital. If strangers are at fault as to the localities of London or the place of their destination, the orderly in a civil and respectful manner directs them on their way. If habitual or professional mendicants are impotent or troublesome, the street orderly warns them off or hands them to the care of the policeman. And if a really poor or starving fellow creature wanders in search of food or alms, he leads him to a workhouse or soup kitchen. Note, a street orderly in St. Martin's Lane recovered a piece of broad cloth from a man who had just stolen it from a warehouse. Others in Drury Lane detected several thefts from provision shops. Two orderlies in Hoburn save the lives of the guard and driver of one of Her Majesty's mail carts, the horde having become unmanageable in consequence of the shafts being broken. In St. Mary's Church Lambeth, a gentleman having fallen down in apoplexy, the orderlies who were attending divine service, carried him out into the air and promptly procured him medical aid, but unhappily life was extinct. Many instances have occurred, however, in which they have rendered essential service to the public and to individuals. End note. Should the system become general, of which there is now every good prospect, it will be the means of rescuing no less than 10,000 persons and their families from destitution and distress in London alone, from the forlorn and wretched condition which tends to criminality and outrage, to that of comfort, independence and happiness, produced by their own industry, aided by the kind consideration of those who are more the favourites of fortune than themselves. In conclusion it may be stated that the street orderly system will keep the streets and pavements of London and Westminster as clean as the courtyard and hall of any gentleman's private dwelling. It will not only secure the general comfort and health of upwards of two millions of people, but save a vast annual amount to shopkeepers, housekeepers and others, with regard to the spoiling of their goods and dirt, in the wear and tear of clothes and furniture by an eternal round of brushing, dusting, scouring and scrubbing. The foregoing extract fully indicates the system pursued and results of street orderlyism. I will now deal with what may be considered the labour or trade part of the question. By the street orderly plan a district is duly apportioned to one man is assigned the care of a series of courts, a street or 500, 1,000, 1,200, 1,500 or 2,000 yards of a public way according to its traffic after the whole surface has been swept the first thing in the morning. In Oxford Street for instance it has been estimated that 500 yards can be kept clear of the dirt continually being deposited by one man in the squares where there is no great traffic 2,000 yards while in so busy a part as Cheapside some 9 men will be required to be hourly on the lookout. These street orderlies are confined to their beats as strictly as our policemen and as they soon become known to the inhabitants it is a means of checking any disposition to loiter or to shirk the work to say nothing of the core of inspectors and superintendents. The division of labour among the street orderlies is as follows 1, the foreman whose duty is to look over the men one such overlooker being employed to about every 20 men and who receives 15 shillings per week 2, the barrow men or sweepers consisting of men and boys the former receiving 12 shillings and the latter generally 7 shillings per week The tools and implements used and their cost are as follows wooden scoops to throw up the slop 1 shilling tuppence each they used to be made of iron weighing 8 pounds each but the men then complained that the weight broke their arms shovel 2 shillings thruppence hoe and scraper 1 shilling thruppence and broom 8 pence scavengers broom 1 shilling tuppence barrow 12 shillings covered barrow 24 shillings In the amount of his receipts the street orderly appears to a disadvantage as many of the regular hands of the contractors receive 16 shillings weekly and he but 12 shillings The reason for this circumscribed payment I have already alluded to the deficiency of funds to carry out the full purposes of the association Contrasted with the remuneration of the great majority of the pauper scavengers the street orderly is in a state of comparative comfort for he receives nearly double as much as the guardians of the poor of chelsea and the liberty of the rolls pay their labourers and full 25% more than is paid by Bermondsy, Detford, Marlebone St. James' Westminster St. George's Hanover Square and St. Andrew's Hoburn and I am assured it is the intention of the council to pay the full rate of wages given by the more respectable scavengers namely 16 shillings a week each man If traders can do this philanthropists who require no profit at least should be equally liberal The labourer never can be benefitted by depreciating the ordinary wages of his trade and I must injustice confess that there are scattered throughout the report repeated regrets that the funds of the association will not admit of a higher rate of wages being paid The street orderly is not subjected to any fines or drawbacks of wages in money every Saturday evening at the office of the association In this respect however he does not differ from other bodies of scavengers The usual mode of obtaining employment among the street orderlies is by personal application at the office of the association in Leicester Square but sometimes letters well penned and well worded are addressed to the president The daily number of applicants for employment is far from demonstrative of that unbroken prosperity of the country of which we hear so much On my inquiring into the number I ascertained towards the end of August that for the previous fortnight during fine summer weather London being still full of the visitors to the exhibition on an average 30 men of nearly all conditions of life applied personally each day for work at street sweeping at 12 shillings a week not connected with the feeling of proper degradation but it does not look well for the country that in 12 days 360 men should apply for such work On the years average I am assured there are 30 applications daily but only 10 new applicants as men call to solicit an engagement again and again Thus in the year there are 9,390 applications and 3,130 individual applicants In the course of one month last winter there were applications from 300 boys in spittle fields alone to be set to work and I am told that had they been successful 3,000 lads would have applied the next month When an application is made by anyone recommended by subscribers and so on to the association or where the case seems worthy of attention the names and addresses are entered in a book with a slight sketch of the circumstances of the person wishing to become a street orderly so that inquiries may be made I give a few of the more recent of these entries and descriptions which are really histories in little Thomas McGee aged 50 WL Street Chelsea Hospital taught a French and English school in Leon France at the revolution of 1848 penniless Rich M13C Street H Garden 42 years, married Kenweed and Wright has been a seaman in the Royal Service 10 years chairmaker by trade has jobbed as a porter in Rochester Kent Phil S1RL Street High Hoburn from Colarney County, Kerry bred a gardener 18 years in constabulary force for which he has a character from Colonel McGregor and received the compensation of £50 which he bestowed on his father and mother to keep them at home 9 months in England, namely in Bristol Bath and London aged 35, Kenweed and Wright Edward C. 79 M Street Hackney aged 27, married Army pensioner 6 pins a day Kenweed and Wright, recommended by Reverend T. Gibson, rector of Hackney Charles J. 11D Street Chelsea, aged 38 gentlemen servant In my account of the regular hands employed by the contracting scavengers, I have stated that the street orderlies were a more miscellaneous body as they had not been reared in the same proportion to street work they are also, I may add, a better accepted and better informed class than the general run of unscaled labourers, as they know before applying for street orderly work that inquiries are made concerning them and that men of reprobate character will not be employed Many of those employed as orderlies have since returned to their original employments others have procured and been recommended to superior situations in life to that of street orderlies by the council of the association, but no instance has occurred of any street orderly having returned back to his parish workhouse or stoneyard this certainly looks well One street orderly, I may add, is now a reputable schoolmaster and has been so for some time another is a clerk under similar circumstances another is a good theoretical and practical musician having officiated as organist in churches concerts, he is also a neat music copyist another tells of his correspondence with a bishop on theological topics another with a long and well-cultured beard has been a model for artists one had 150 pounds left to him not long ago which was soon spent, his wife spent it he said and then he quietly applied to be permitted to be again a street orderly several have got engagements as men, their original calling indeed I am assured that a few months of street orderly labour is looked upon as an excellent or deal of character after which the association affirms good behaviour on the part of the employed the subscribers to the funds not unfrequently recommend destitute persons to the good offices of the association apart from their employment as street orderlies thus it is only a few weeks ago that 12 Spanish refugees none of them speaking English were recommended to the association one of them it was ultimately enabled to establish as a waiter in a hotel resorted to by foreigners another as an interpreter another as a gentleman servant and another with a little boy his son in shoe blacking in Leicester Square thus among street orderlies are to be found a great diversity of career in life and what may be called one great advantage however which the orderly possesses over his better paid brethren is in the greater probability of his rising out of the street this is very rarely the case with an ordinary scavenger I now give the following account from one of the street orderlies a tall soldierly looking man I'm 42 now and when I was a boy and a young man I was employed in the Times machine office but got into a bit of a row a bit of a street quarrel and frolic and was called on to pay £3 something about a street lamp that was out of the question and as I was taking a walk in the park not just knowing what I'd best do I met a recruiting sergeant and enlisted on a sudden all in a sudden in the 16th Lancers when I came to the standard though I was found a little bit too short well I was rather frolic some in those days I confess and perhaps had rather a turn for a roving life so when the sergeant said he'd take me to the East India Company's recruiting sergeant I consented and was accepted at once I was taken to Calcutta and served under General Knot all through the Afghan war I was in the East India Company's artillery fourth company and second battalion why yes sir I saw a little bit of what you may call service I was at the fighting at Kandahar, Bowling Glen Bowling Pass, Clotigalsy Fusney and Kabul the first real warm work I was in was at Kandahar I've heard young soldiers say that they've gone into action the first time as merry as they would go to a play don't believe them sir old soldiers will tell you quite different you must feel queer and serious the first time you're in action it's not fear, it's nervousness the crack of the muskets at the first fire you hear in real hard earnest is uncommon startling you see the flash of the fire from the enemy's line but very little else indeed, often enough you see nothing but smoke and hear nothing but balls whistling every side of you and then you get excited just as if you were at a hunt but after a little service I can speak for myself at any rate you go into action as you go to your dinner I served during the time when there was the Afghanistan retreat when the 44th was completely cut up before any help could get up to them we suffered a good deal from want of sufficient food but it was nothing like so bad at the very worst as if you're suffering in London in India in that war time if you suffered you were along with a number in just the same boat as yourself and there's always something to hope for when you're an army it's different if you're walking the streets of London by yourself I felt it sir for a little bit after my return and if you haven't a penny you feel as if there wasn't a hope if you have friends it may be different but I had none it's no comfort if you know hundreds are suffering as you are for you can't help and cheer one another as soldiers can why sir, as I've told you I saw a good deal of service all through that war indeed I served 13 years and 4 months and was then discharged on account of ill health if I'd served 8 months longer that would have been 14 years and I should have been entitled to a pension I believe my illness was caused by the hardships I went through in the campaigns fighting and killing men that I never saw before and until I was in India had never heard of and that I had no ill will to certainly not, why should I they never did me any wrong but when it comes to war if you can't kill them, they'll kill you when I got back to London I applied at the East India house for a pension but was refused I hadn't served my time though that wasn't my fault I then applied for work in the Times machine office and they were kind enough to put me on but I wasn't master of the work for there was new machinery wonderful machinery and many changes so I couldn't be kept on and was some time out of work and very badly off as I've said before and then I got work as a scavenger oh I knew nothing about sweeping before that I've never swept anything except the snow in the north of India which is quite a different sort of thing to London dirt but I very soon got into the way of it I found no difficulty about it though some may pretend there is an art in it I had 15 shillings a week and when I was no longer wanted I got employment as a street orderly I never was married and have only myself to provide for I'm satisfied that the street orderly is far the best plan for street cleaning nothing else can touch it in my opinion and I thought so before I was one of them and I believe most working scavengers think so now though they may not like to say so for fear it might go against their interest oh yes I'm sometimes questioned by gentlemen that may be passing in the streets while I'm at work all about our system they generally say and a very good system too one said once it shows that scavengers can be decent men first in London above 40 years ago well I sometimes get the price of a pint of beer given to me by gentlemen making inquiries but very seldom until about 18 months ago none but unmarried men were employed by the association and these all resided in one locality and under one general superintendence or system the boarding and lodging of the men has however been discontinued about 15 months and I'm told it was found difficult to encourage industrial and self-reliant pursuits in connection with public iliomossinary aid married men are now employed and all the street orderlies reside at their own homes the adults married or single receiving 12 shillings a week each the boys six shillings while to each man is gratuitously supplied a blouse of blue surge costing two shilling sixpence costing the same amount the system formerly adopted was as follows the men were formed into a distinct body and established in houses taken for them at ham yard great windmill street hay market the wages of the men states the report were fixed at 12 shillings each per week that is nine shillings were charged for board and lodging and three shillings were paid in money to each man on Saturday afternoon 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 namely 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 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 they were 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 labourers 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 misspend their time nor from mere preference run riot in pothouses 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 artisan to the shock man and clerk and therefore previously educated the other half consisted of labourers and persons forsaken and indigent from their birth and formerly dependent on work house 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 demean themselves and the heartfelt solemnity with which they joined in the invocations and thanks to their creator and preserver each Sunday morning at eight 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 marshaled to church twice on the sabbath headed by the superintendent and foreman 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 church wardens on Tuesday evenings they had the benefit of receiving ancestral 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 namely 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 pedagogues I use the word in its literal meaning here proceeds rather from a love of power than from a sincere regard for the people let the rich become the advisors 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 but such as seek merely to lord it over those whom distress has placed in their power and strive to bring about the villainage 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 tourney 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 elia mossnery help is not a fitting adjunct to the industrial toil of independent labourers the residencies of the street orderlies are now in all quarters where unfurnished rooms are about one shilling nine pence or two shillings a week the address 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 and so on of the class constituting the street orderlies 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 McKenzie 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 scavenger to whom a preference was given the parish of St Mary Paddington questions asked of parish scavengers applying for employment as street orderlies with the answers appended name WC age 35 years how long a scavenger 3 months what occupation previously gentlemen's footmen married or single married reading, writing or other education yes any children 1 their ages 3 years wages 9 shillings per week any parish relief no what and how much food the applicants have usually purchased in a week meat 2 shilling 6pence bacon none fish none bread 2 shillings potatoes 4pence butter 6pence tea and sugar 1 shilling cocoa none what rent they pay 2 shillings furnished or unfurnished lodgings furnished any change of dress no Sunday clothing no how many shirts 2 shirts boots and shoes 1 pair how much do they lay out for clothes in a year I have nothing but what I stand up writing do they go to church or chapel sometimes if not why not it is from want of clothes do they ever bathe no does the wife go out to or take in work yes what are her earnings uncertain do they have anything from charitable institutions or families no when ill where do they resort to hospitals dispensaries and the parish doctor do their children go to any school and what baddington do they ever save any money how much and where no answer how much do they spend per week and drink no answer do not passers by as charitable ladies and so on give them money and how much per week no such are the questions asked and I now give the answers of 67 individuals their ages were 10 were from 20 to 30 13 were from 30 to 40 24 were from 40 to 50 15 from 50 to 60 4 from 60 to 70 1 from 70 the greatest number of any age was 7 persons of 45 years respectively their previous occupations had been 22 labourers 3 at the business all their lives 3 dustmen 3 ostlers 2 stablemen 2 carmen 2 porters 2 gentlemen servants 2 greengrocers 2 gold digging 1 stone breaking in yards 1 at work in the brick fields 1 at work in the lime works 1 coal porter 1 sweep 1 hay binder 1 gaslighter 1 dairy man 1 ploughman 1 gardener 1 errand boy 1 fur dresser 1 fur dyer 1 glassblower 1 farrier 1 plasterer 1 quark 1 vendor of goods 1 licensed victualer of 67 scavengers 12 had been artisans 55 had been unskilled workmen hence about 5 sixths belong to the unskilled class of operatives time of having been at scavengering 3 all their lives at the business 1 about 27 years 6 from 15 to 20 years 6 from 10 to 15 years 4 from 5 to 10 years 34 from 1 to 5 years 13 12 months and less hence it would appear that few have been at the business a long time the greater number have not been acting as scavengers more than 5 years state of education could they read and write 40 years could they read and write 45 answered yes 4 replied that they could read and write 5 could read only 12 could do neither 1 was deaf and dumb hence it would appear that rather more than 2 thirds of the scavengers have received some little education did they go to church or chapel 22 answered yes 9 went to church 4 went to chapel 4 went to the Catholic chapel 1 went to both church and chapel 5 went sometimes 1 not often 17 never went at all 1 was ashamed to go 1 went out of town to enjoy himself 2 made no return 1 being deaf and dumb thus it would seem that not quite 2 thirds regularly attend some place of worship that about 1 11th go occasionally and that about 1 4th never go at all why did they not go to church 12 had no clothes 55 returned no answer 1 being deaf and dumb hence of those who never go 19 out of 67 very nearly 2 thirds say 12 in 19 have no clothes to appear in did they bathe 59 answered no 3 replied yes 2 said they did in the Thames 2 returned sometimes 1 was deaf and dumb hence it appeared that about 7 8th never bathe although following the filthiest occupation were they married or single 56 were married 5 were widowers 6 were single thus it would seem that about 10 11ths are or have been married men how many children had they 1 had 15 1 had 6 2 had 5 each 11 had 4 each 19 had 3 each 9 had 2 each 6 had 1 each 16 had none 6 of these being single men 2 returned their family as grown up without stating the number consequently 51 out of 61 or 5 6ths are married and have families numbering altogether 165 children the majority had only 3 children and this was about the average family what were the ages of their children 11 were grown up 2 between 30 and 40 9 between 20 and 30 49 between 10 and 20 80 between 1 and 10 8 were 1 year and under 5 were returned at home 10 were returned as dead 1 half of the scavengers children therefore are between 1 and 10 years of age the majority would appear to be 8 years old some were said to be grown up but no number was given did their children go to school 13 answered yes 13 to the national school 5 to the ragged school 2 to catholic 2 to parish 6 to local schools that he went sometimes 2 returned no 1 replied that his children were not with him 22 of whom 16 had no children and 1 was deaf and dumb made no reply from this it would seem that a large majority 41 out of 51 or 4 5ths of the parents who have children send them to school did their wives work 15 returned no 6 said their wives were unable 1 had lost the use of her limbs 2 did but not often 4 did when they could 10 worked sometimes 12 answered yes 1 sold creases 15 made no return 11 having no wives and 1 being deaf and dumb and 2 5ths of the wives 22 out of 56 do no work 16 do so occasionally or 1 4th are in the habit of working what were wives earnings 10 returned them as uncertain 1 didn't know 1 estimated them at 1 shelling 6 pounds per week 1 at 1 shelling to 2 shellings per week 2 at 2 shellings per week 3 at 2 shellings or 3 shellings per week 2 at about 3 shellings per week 1 at 2 shellings to 4 shellings per week 1 at 3 or 4 pounds per day 43 gave no returns having either no wives or their wives not working 1 was deaf and dumb so that out of 29 wives who were said to work 16 occasionally and 13 regularly there were returns for 23 nearly half of their earnings were given as uncertain from their seldom doing work while the remainder were stated to gain from 1 shelling to 4 shellings per week about 2 shellings 6 pounds perhaps would be a fair average what wages were they themselves in the habit of receiving 3 had 16 shellings 6 pounds per week 2 had 16 shellings per week 28 had 15 shellings per week 3 had 14 shellings 6 pounds per week 1 had 14 shellings per week 2 had 12 shellings per week 16 had 9 shellings per week 4 had 8 shellings per week 5 had 7 shellings per week 4 had 1 shelling a penny hipney a day and 2 loaves hence it is evident that one half received 15 shellings or more a week and about a fourth 9 shellings it was not the parishes however but the contractors with the parishes who paid the higher rates of wages Mr Dodd for St Luke's Mr Westley for St Bottles Bishopsgate Mr Parsons for Whitechapel Mr Newman for Bethnal Green and so on these wages the scavengers laid out in the following manner for rent per week 1 paid 4 shellings 1 paid 3 shellings 6 pounds 8 paid 3 shellings 14 paid 2 shellings 6 pounds 33 paid 2 shellings 4 paid 1 shellings 6 pounds 1 paid 1 shelling thruppans 2 paid 1 shelling 1 lived rent free 1 paid for board and lodging 1 lived with his mother hence it would appear that near upon half the number paid 2 shellings rent the usual rent paid seems to be between 2 shellings and 3 shellings 5 sixths of the entire number paying 1 or other of those amounts only 3 lived in furnished lodgings and the rents of these were respectively 2 at 2 shellings 6 pounds and the other at 2 shellings for bread per week 1 expended 5 shellings thruppans 1 expended 5 shellings 1 expended 4 shellings 7 pounds 1 expended 4 shellings 6 pounds 1 expended 4 shellings thruppans 7 expended 4 shellings 13 expended 3 shellings 6 pounds 8 expended 3 shellings 3 expended 2 shellings 3 expended 3 shellings three expended two shilling sixpence, four expended two shilling thruppence, thirteen expended two shillings, four expended one shilling sixpence, one expended one shilling ninepence. Four had two loaves a day from parish, three gave a certain sum per week to their wives or mothers to lay out for them, and one boarded and lodged, one was deaf and dumb. Thus it would seem that the general sum expended weekly on bread varies between two shillings and four shillings. The average saving from free trade therefore would be between four pence and eight pence, or say six pence per week. Four meat per week. Four expended four shillings. Five expended three shilling sixpence. Eleven expended three shillings. Twelve expended two shilling sixpence. One expended two shillings fourpence. Five expended two shillings. Four expended one shilling sixpence. One expended one shilling tuppence. Nine expended one shilling. Two expended ten pence. Two expended six pence. One expended eight pence. One once a week. Four had none. Five no returns. Three of this number gave a weekly allowance to wives or mothers. One was deaf and dumb, and one paid for board and lodging. By the above we see that the sum usually expended on meat is between two shilling sixpence and three shillings per week, about one third of the entire number expending that sum. All those who expended one shilling and less per week had nine shillings and less for their week's labour. The average saving from the cheapening of provisions would here appear to be between five pence and six pence per week at the outside. Four tea and sugar per week. Two paid two shilling sixpence. One paid two shillings four pence. One paid two shillings three pence. Nineteen paid two shillings. Two paid one shilling nine pence. Four paid one shilling eight pence. Twelve paid one shilling six pence. Five paid one shilling four pence. Five paid one shilling three pence. Five paid one shilling tuppence. Thirteen paid one shilling. Two paid eight pence. Five no returns. one deaf and dumb, one bored and lodging, and three making allowances. The sum usually expended on tea and sugar seems to be between one shilling sixpence and two shillings per week. For fish per week, three expended one shilling, five expended eightpence, twenty-three expended sixpence, eight expended fourpence, twenty-three expended nothing. Four allowed so much per week to wives or mother or landlady. One deaf and dumb, hence one-third spent sixpence weekly in fish and one-third nothing. For bacon per week, one expended one shilling, two expended tenpence, one expended ninepence, five expended eightpence, nine expended sixpence, one expended fourpence, forty-three expended nothing. Four allowances to wives and so on, one deaf and dumb. The majority, two-thirds therefore, do not have bacon. Of those that do eat bacon, the usual sum spent weekly is sixpence or eightpence. For butter per week, one expended one shilling eightpence, twenty-four expended one shilling, eleven expended tenpence, twelve expended eightpence, eleven expended sixpence, one expended thruppence, two expended nothing, four made allowances, one deaf and dumb. Thus one-third expended one shilling, and about one-sixth spent tenpence, another-sixth eightpence, and another-sixth sixpence a week for butter. For potatoes per week, one spent one shilling, two spent tenpence, six spent eightpence, one spent sevenpence, eighteen spent sixpence, six spent fourpence, twenty-eight spent nothing, four made allowances, one deaf and dumb. About one-fourth spent sixpence, the greater proportion, however, nearly one-half expended nothing upon potatoes weekly. For clothes yearly, two expended two pounds, two expended one pound ten shillings, two expended one pound five shillings, three expended one pound, one expended eighteen shillings, one expended seventeen shillings, one expended fifteen shillings, four expended twelve shillings, one expended ten shillings, thirty-four couldn't say, one had two pairs of boots a year but no clothes, two expended not much, two got them as they could, one expended a few shillings, one said it all depends, two returned nothing, one was deaf and dumb, six made no return. Hence forty-three out of sixty-seven, or nearly two-thirds, spent little or nothing upon their clothes. Had they a change of dress? Twenty-eight had a change of dress, thirty-eight had not, one was deaf and dumb. Of one half, therefore, had no other clothes but those they worked in. Had they any Sunday clothing? Twenty had some, forty-five had none, twenty-one made no return, one deaf and dumb. More than two-thirds then had no Sunday clothes. How many shirts had they? Ten had three shirts, fifty-four had two shirts, two had one shirt, one was deaf and dumb. The greater number, therefore, had two shirts. How many shoes had they? Twenty-seven had two pairs, thirty-nine had one pair, one was deaf and dumb. Thus the majority had only one pair of shoes. How much did they spend in drink? One expended two shillings a week, one expended one shilling or two shillings a week, two expended one shilling six bins a week, four expended one shilling a week, one expended six bins a week, one expended thruppings or five bins a week, seven said they couldn't say, one said he wouldn't say, one said that all depends, two said they had none to spend, two expended nothing, forty-four gave no return, one deaf and dumb. Hence answers were given by one-third of whom the greatest number couldn't say. Of the ten who acknowledged spending anything upon drink, the greater number or four said they spent one shilling a week only, but did they save any money? Thirty-six answered no, thirty-one gave no reply, one being deaf and dumb. What did they in case of illness coming upon themselves or families? Twenty-eight went to the dispensary, eight went to the hospital, six went to the parish doctor, three wives went to the lying-in hospital, one went to the workhouse, two said nothing, one never troubled any, eight made no reply, one being deaf and dumb. The greater number, then, go when ill to the dispensary. Were they in receipt of AMS? Fifty-six answered no, two answered sometimes, three answered yes, six made no returns, one being deaf and dumb. Did the passers-by give them anything? Forty-nine answered no, two answered sometimes, beer, one answered never, two answered seldom, one answered very seldom, twelve no returns, one being deaf and dumb. Did they receive any relief from their parishes? Fifty-six replied no, four had two loaves and one shilling a day as wages, one had four loaves a week, one had a four-pounds loaf, one had fifteen pounds of bread, two answered not at present, two made no returns. Thus the greater proportion, five-sixth, it will be seen, had no relief. Two of those who had relief received nine shillings wages a week and two others only seven shillings, while four received part of their wages from the parish in bread. These analyses are not merely the characteristics of the applicant or existent street orderlies, they are really the annals of the poor in all that relates to their domestic management in regard to meat and clothes, the care of their children, their churchgoing, education, previous callings and parish relief. The inquiry is not discouraging as to the character of the poor and I must call attention to the circumstance of how rarely it is that so large a collection of facts is placed at the command of a public writer. In many of the public offices the simplest information is as jealously withheld as if statistical knowledge were the first and last steps to high treason. I trust that Mr. Cochran's example in the skillful arrangement of the returns, connected with the association over which he presides, and his courteous readiness to supply the information gained at no small care and cost, will be more freely followed as such of course unquestionably tends to the public benefit. It will be seen from these statements how hard the struggle often is to obtain work in unskilled labour, and when obtained, how bare the living. Every farthing earned by such work people is necessarily expended in the support of a family. And in the foregoing details we have another proof as to the diminution of the purchasing fund of the country, being in direct proportion to the diminution of the wages. If 100 men receive but seven shillings a week each for their work, their yearly outlay, to keep the bare life in them, is £1,820. If they are paid 16 shillings a week, their outlay is £4,160. An expenditure of £2,340 more in the productions of our manufacturers in all textile, metal or wooden fabrics, in bread, meat, fruit or vegetables, and in the now necessaries, the grand staple of our foreign and colonial trade, tea, coffee, cocoa, sugar, rice and tobacco. Increase your wages therefore and you increase your markets. For manufacturers to underpay their workmen is to cripple the demand for manufacturers. To talk of the overproduction of our cotton, linen and woollen goods is idle when thousands of men engaged in such productions are in rags. It is not that there are too many makers, but too few who owing to the decrease of wages are able to be buyers. Let it be remembered that out of 67 labouring men, three fourths could not afford to buy proper clothing, expending thereupon little or nothing. And I may add, because earning little or nothing, and so having scarcely anything to expend. End of Section 50. Section 51 of London Labour and the London Poor Volume 2 by Henry Mayhew. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Gillian Henry. Of the Street Orderlies, Part 3. I now come to the cost of cleansing the streets upon the street orderly system, as compared with that of the ordinary modes of payment to contractors and so on. It will have been observed from what has been previously stated that the Council of the Association contend that far higher amounts may be realised for street manure when collected clean according to the street orderly plan. If by a better mode of collecting the street dirt it be kept unmixed, its increase in value and in price may be most positively affirmed. Before presenting estimates and calculations of cost, I may remind the reader that under the street orderly system no watering carts are required, and none are used where the system is carried out in its integrity. To be able to dispense with the watering of the streets is not merely to get rid of a great nuisance, but to effect a considerable saving in the rates. I now give two estimates, both relating to the same district. Comparative expense of cleaning and watering the streets and so on of St James's Parish. Under the system now in operation by the paving board, and under the sanitary system of employing street orderlies, as recommended by 779 rate payers, it is assumed from reasonable data that the superficial contents of all the streets, lanes, courts and alleys in the parish do not amount to more than 80,000 square yards. Present annual expense of cleansing St James's Parish. Paid to contractor for carrying away slop, including expense of brooms, £800. Paid to 23 men, average wages, 10 shillings per week, 52 weeks, £598. Total £1,398. Annual expense of street orderly system. 30 men, including those with hand barrels at 10 shillings per week, 52 weeks, £780. Expense of brooms, £30. Cartage of slop, £100. Total £910. Difference £488. Saving by diminished expense of street watering throughout the parish, £450. Annual prospective saving £938. Quote, observation, the sum of £800 per annum was paid to the contractor on account of expenses incurred for the removal of slop. During the three years previous to 1849, the contractor paid money to the parish for permission to remove the house ashes, the value of which was then two shillings per load. It is now two shilling sixpence. In St Giles's and St George's parishes, whose surface is more than twice the extent of St James's, the expense of slop cartage in 1850 was £304.14 shillings, while the sum received for cattle manure collected by street orderlies was £73.14 shillings. And the slop expenses for the four months ending November 29th were £59.18 shillings and sixpence, whilst the manure sold for £21.06 shillings. Thus has the slop expense in these extensive united parishes been reduced to less than £120 per annum. Since the preceding estimate was submitted to the commissioners of paving, the street orderly system has been introduced into St James's parish, and it is confidently expected that the annual prospective saving of £938 will be fully realised." A similar estimate has just been sent into the authorities of the great parish of St Marleybone, but its results do not differ from the one I have just cited. I next present an estimate contrasting the expense of the street orderly method with the cost of employing sweeping machines. Comparative expense of cleansing and watering the streets and so on of St Martin's parish under the system now in operation by the paving board and under the sanitary system of employing street orderlies as recommended by 703 ratepayers. It is assumed from reasonable data that the superficial contents of all the streets, lanes, courts and alleys in the parish amount to about 70,000 square yards. Expenses by machinery in St Martin's parish. Annual payment to straight machine proprietor, £980. Watering rate, £1847. £644.16 shillings, £8.00 hypney. Salary to clerks, £391. Support of 28 able-bodied men in a workhouse thrown out of work at four shillings sixpins per man, £327.12 shillings. Total expenses, £2,343, £8.00 hypney. Expenditure by the employment of street orderlies. Maintenance of 28 street orderlies to keep clean 70,000 yards, presumed contents, at 2,500 yards each man, at 12 shillings per week, £768.00. Two inspectors of orderlies at 15 shillings per week, £78.00. One superintendent of Ditto at £1 per week, £52.00. Wear and tear of brooms, £36.00, eight shillings. Interest on outlay for barrows, brooms and shovels, £26.00, 19 shillings. Watering rate, not required. Value of manure pays for cartage. Total, £961.00, seven shillings. Annual saving by street orderlies, £1,382.00, one shilling, £8.00 hypney. Balancing to £2,343.00, eight shillings, £8.00 hypney. I now give an estimate concerning a smaller district, one of the divisions of St Pancras Parish. It was embodied in a report read at a meeting in Camden Town on the desirableness of introducing the street orderly system. The report set forth that the committee had made a minute investigation into the present systems of street cleansing as adopted under the superintendence of Mr Bird, the Parish Surveyor, and under that of the National Philanthropic Association. From the 26th of March, 1848 to the 26th of March, 1849, the directors of the poor expended in paving and cleansing and so on, the three and a quarter miles under their charge, £3,545.19 shillings, £7.00. Of this, the following items were for cleansing, namely labour, £249.13 shillings, tools, £10.12 shillings, slop carting, £496.00, proportion of foreman's salary, £39.00, total £795.05 shillings. The street orderly system of cleansing the said roads in the most efficient manner would give the following expenditure per annum. Thirty-four men to cleanse three and a quarter miles at the rate of 2,000 superficial yards each man, 12 shillings per week each, £1,060.16 shillings. Two inspectors of orderlies at 15 shillings per week each, £78.00. Superintendent, £104.00. Cost of brooms, shovels and so on, £83.00. No allowance for slop carting, the National Philanthropic Association holding that the manure properly collected will more than pay for its removal. Total £1,325.16 shillings. Deduct cost of cleansing by the old mode, £795.05 shillings. Difference £530.11 shillings. The apparent extra cost, therefore, would be £530.11 shillings. The vestry, however, would see that the charge for supporting 34 able-bodied men in the workhouse is at least five shillings per week each, or £442.00 per annum. This therefore must be deducted from the £530.11 shillings, leaving the extra cost £88.11 shillings per annum. These some, the committee were assured, will be not only repaid by the reduced outlay for repairs, which the new system will effect, but a very great saving will be the result of the thorough cleansed state in which the roads will be constantly maintained. Under the late system, to find the roads in a cleansed state was the exception, not the rule. And when all the advantages likely to result from the new system were taken into consideration, the committee did not hesitate to recommend it for adoption in its most efficient form. End quote. Concerning the expense of cleansing the city by the street orderly system, Mr Cochran says, the number required for the whole surface, including the footways, courts and so on, would be about 250 men and boys. Upon the present system, this number would be formed in three divisions. First division, 170 to begin work at 6am and end 6pm. Second division, called Relief and AIDS. 30 boys, from 12 at noon to 10. Third division, 50 men from 6pm to 6am. Total, 250. The men and boys are now working at from 6 shillings to 12 shillings per week. These 250 men and boys would cost for wages during the year about £5,100. 12 foremen at £40 per annum, £480. Two superintendents at £50 each, £100. Brooms and so on, £325. Barrows, £100. Two clerks at £100 each, £200. Manager, £100. Total, £6,405. No items are given for slopping or cartage, as if the streets are properly attended to, there ought to be no slop, whilst the value of the manure may be more than equivalent for the expense of its removal. Some slop carts will however be occasionally required for Smithfield market and similar localities, making therefore ample allowance for contingencies. It is confidently considered that the expense for cleansing the whole of the City of London by street orderlies would not exceed £8,000 per annum. Expenses of cleansing and watering the streets and so on of the City of London on the old system of scavenging, from June 1845 to June 1846, to scavenging contractors, annual expense £6,040. Value of ashes and dust of the City of London given gratis to the above contractors in the year ending 1846 and now purchased by them for the year ending 1847, £5,500. Estimated contributions levied for watering streets, £4,000. Salaries to surveyors, inspectors, beadles, clerks and so on of Sewer's office, according to printed account March 3rd, 1846, £2,485. Expense for cleaning out Sewer's and gully holes, not known. Annual expense under the imperfect system of street cleansing, £18,025. Number of men employed, £58. State of the streets, inhabitants always complaining of their being muddy in winter and dusty in summer. Two estimates then show an expectation of a yearly saving of no less than £2,320 to the rate pairs of two parishes alone. £938 to St James's and £1,382 to St Martin's. And this too, if all that be obbred of the system be realised, with a freedom from street dust and dirt unknown under other methods of scavengery. I think it right however to express my opinion that even in the reasonable prospect of these great savings being affected it is a paltry or rather a false because miscalled economy to speculate on the payment of 10 shillings and 12 shillings a week to street labourers in the parishes of St James and St Martin respectively when so many of the contractors pay their men 16 shillings weekly. If this low hire be justifiable in the way of an experiment it can never be justifiable as a continuance of the reward of labour. If the street orderly system is to be the means of permanently reducing the wages of the regular scavengers from 16 shillings to 12 shillings a week then we had better remain afflicted with the physical dirt of our streets than the moral filth which is sure to proceed from the poverty of our people. But if it is to be a means of elevating the pauper to the dignity of the independent labourer rather than dragging the independent labourer down to the debasement of the pauper then let all who wish well to their fellows encourage it as heartily and strenuously as they can. Otherwise the sooner it is denounced as an insidious mode of defrauding the poor of one-fourth of their earnings the better. And it is merely in the belief that Mr Cochran and the Council of the Association mean to keep faith with the public and increase the men's wages to those of the regular trade that the street orderly system is advocated here. If our philanthropists are to reduce wages 25% then indeed the poor man may cry, save me from my friends. As to the positive and definite working of the street orderly system as an economical system no information can be given beyond the estimates I have cited as it has never been duly tested on a sufficiently large scale. Its working has been of necessity, desultery. It has however been introduced into St George's Bloomsbury, St James's Westminster and is about to be established in St Martin's in the Fields. And in the course of a year or two it seems that it will be sufficiently tested that its working has hitherto been desultery is a necessity in London where vested interests look grimly on any change or even any inquiry that it deserves a full and liberal testing seems undeniable from the concurrent assent of all parishioners who have turned their attention to it. It remains to show the expenses of the Philanthropic Association for I am unable to present an account of street orderlyism separately. The following two tables fully indicate to what an extent the association is indebted to the private purse of Mr Cochran who by this time has advanced between £6,000 and £7,000. Balance sheet. Receipts and expenditure of the National Philanthropic Association for the promotion of social and sanitary improvements and the employment of the poor from 29th September 1846 to 29th September 1849. Debates. To subscriptions and donations from the 29th September 1846 to 29th September 1849, £1,393.16 Balance due to President 29th September 1849 £5,739.19 Total £7,133.16 Credits. By balance due to President as per balance sheet September 29th 1846 £2,935.17 Secretary's salary £300 Rent of offices and so on £248.10 Salaries to clerks, messengers and so on £371.19 Salaries to collectors £312.18 Commission to collectors £130.05 Printing and stationery £556.17 Higher of rooms for public meetings £60.10 Advertisements and newspapers £244.05 Bill posting £8.12 Salaries to persons in charge of free lavatories in Hamyard, Great Windmill Street, St James's £10.18 Brooms, barrows and shovels for the use of street orderlies £86.08 Charges of contractors and others for removal of street slop and so on £58.09 Food, lodging and wages to street orderlies Domiciled in Hamyard, Great Windmill Street, St James's £980.11 Clothing for the street orderlies £13.03 Bath provided for street orderlies £5.15 Sundry expenses for offices including postage stamps and so on £92.07 Law expenses £8.10 Builders charges for free lavatories in Hamyard £95.03 Mount advanced to the late secretary for improving the dwellings of the poor £20 Further advances made by president on various occasions for the general purposes of the association £592.02 Total £7133.16 Audited by us October 19th 1849 Charles Shippard Lenton £3.03 Street orderlies City Surveyers Report I have been favoured with a report upon street cleansing and in reference to the street orderly system by the author Mr W. Haywood, the Surveyor to the City Commission of Sewers, who has invited my attention to the matter in consequence of the statements which have appeared on the subject in London Labour and the London Poor Readers note volume 1 Mr Haywood, whose tone of argument is courteous and moderate and who does not scruple to do justice to what he accounts the good points of the street orderly system, although he condemns it as a whole gives an account of the earlier scavenging of the city not differing in any material respect from that which I have already printed He represents the public ways of the city which I have stated to be about 50 miles as quote about 51 miles lineal about 770,157 superficial yards in area end quote. This area it appears comprehends 1000 different places In 1845 the area of the carriageway of the city was estimated at 418,000 square yards and the footway was estimated at 316,000 making a total of 734,000 But since that period new streets have been made and others extensively widened The precincts of Bridewell, St Bartholomew, St James's Dukes Place, Aldgate and others have been added to the jurisdiction of the Sewers Commission by Act of Parliament so that the surveyor now estimates the area of the carriageway of the city of London at 321,250 square yards and the footways at 328,907 making a total of 770,157 square yards I am fully impressed, observes Mr Haywood with the great importance to a densely populated city of an efficient cleansing of the public ways probably after a perfect system of sewage and drainage which implies an adequate water supply and a well paved surface which I have always considered to be little inferior in its importance to the former and which is indispensable to obtaining clean sweeping Good surface cleansing ranks next in its beneficial sanitary influence and most certainly the comfort gained by all through having public thoroughfares in a high degree of cleanliness is exceedingly great Mr Haywood expresses his opinion that streets or jurors soddened, smelling like stable yards dangerous to the health of the inhabitants impassable from mud in winter and from dust in summer and inflicting constant pecuniary loss, quote, can only exist in an appreciable degree in thoroughfares swept much less frequently, end quote than the streets within the jurisdiction of the city commissioners of sewers In this opinion, however, Mr Haywood comes into direct collision with the statements put forth by the Board of Health who have insisted upon the insanitary state of the metropolitan streets more strongly perhaps in their several reports than has Mr Cochran But Mr Haywood believes that not only are the assertions of the Board of Health as to the unwholesome state of the metropolitan thoroughfares unfounded as regards the city of London but he asserts that from the daily street sweeping quote, the surface there is maintained in as high an average condition of cleanliness as the means hitherto adopted will enable to be attained Nor does this apply, says Mr Haywood to the main thoroughfares only, in the poorer courts and alleys within the city where a high degree of cleanliness is at least as needful in a sanitary point of view as in the larger and wider thoroughfares the facilities for efficient sweeping are as great if not greater than in other portions of your jurisdiction For many years past the whole of the courts and alleys which carts do not enter have been paved with flagstone laid at a good inclination and presenting a uniform smooth, non-absorbent surface In many of these courts where the habits of the people are cleanly the scavengers broom is almost unneeded for weeks together in others where the habit prevails of throwing the refuse of the house upon the pavements the daily sweeping is highly essential but in all these courts the surface presents a condition which renders good clean sweeping a comparatively easy operation that which is swept away being mostly dry or nearly so after alluding to the street orderly principle of scavenging to clean and keep clean Mr. Haywood observes between the street orderly system and the periodical or intermittent sweeping there is this difference that upon the former system there should be if it fulfills what it professes no deposit of any description allowed to remain much longer than a few minutes upon the surface and that there should be neither mud in the wet weather in the dry weather upon the public ways whilst upon the latter system the deposit necessarily accumulates between the periods of sweeping commencing as soon as one sweeping has terminated gradually increasing and being at its point of extreme accumulation at the period when the next sweeping takes place the former then is or should be a system of prevention the latter confessedly but a system of palliation or cure the more frequent the periodical sweeping therefore the nearer it approximates in its results to the street orderly system in as much as the accumulations being frequently removed must be smaller and the evils of mud dust effluvia and so on less in proportion now to fulfill its promise upon the street orderly system there should be men both day and night within the streets constantly remove the manure and refuse and failing this if there be only secession for six hours out of the twenty four of the continuous cleansing it becomes at once a periodical cleansing but a degree in advance of the daily sweeping which has been now for years in operation within the city of London this appears to me to be an extreme conclusion because the labourer of the street orderly system cease when the great traffic ceases and when of course there is comparatively little or no dirt deposited in the thoroughfares therefore says Mr. Haywood the city system of cleansing once per day is only a degree behind that system of which the principle is incessant cleansing at such time as the dirtying is incessant the two principles are surely as different as light and darkness in the one the cleansing is intermittent and the dirt constant in the other the dirt is intermittent and the cleanliness constant constant at least so long as the causes of impurity are so Mr. Haywood however states that the commissioners were so pleased with the appearance of the streets when cleansed on the street orderly system which was certainly much to be admired that they introduced a somewhat similar system in their scavengers day men as they had the care of keeping the streets clean after a daily morning sweeping by the contractors men they commenced their work at 9am and ceased at 6pm in the summer months and at half past 4pm in the winter in the summer months 36 day men were employed on the average in the winter months 46 the highest number of scavenging day men employed on any one day the lowest was 34 the area cleansed was about 47,000 yards superficial measure and with the following results and the following cost from June 24th 1846 to the same date 1847 the average area cleansed during the summer months per man per diem was 1,298 superficial yards ditto during winter per man per diem was 1,016 yards the average of both summer and winter months was per man per diem 1,139 yards the cost of the experiment was for day men including brooms, barrows, shovels, cartage and so on 1,450 pounds 18 shillings 1 foreman at 78 pounds and the total cost of the experiment 1,528 pounds 18 shillings note the wages paid are not stated and note the daily sweeping Mr Haywood says which for the previous two years had been established throughout the city gave at that time very great satisfaction it was quite true that the streets which the day men attended to looked superior to those cleansed only periodically but the practical value of the difference was considered by many not to be worth the sum of money paid for it it was also felt that if it was continued it should upon principle be extended at least to all streets of similar traffic to those upon which it had been tried and as after due consideration the commission thought that one daily sweeping was sufficient both for health and comfort and the whole city only received from that time to the present the usual daily sweeping the present time is shown by the date of Mr Haywood's report October 13th 1851 the reason assigned for the abandonment of the system of the day men is peculiar and characteristic the system of continuous cleansing gave very great satisfaction although it was in advance of the once a day cleansing the streets which the day men attended to looked and of course were superior in cleanliness to those scavenged periodically it was also felt that the principle should be extended at least to all streets of similar traffic and why was it not so extended because in a word it was not worth the money though by what standard the value of public cleanliness is not mentioned the main question therefore is what is the difference in the cost of the two systems and is the admitted superior cleanliness produced by the continuous mode of scavenging in comparison with that obtained by the intermittent mode of sufficient public value to warrant the increased expense if any in a word as the city people say is it worth the money first as to the comparative cost of the two systems after a statement of the contracts for the dusting and cleansing of the city matters I have before treated off Mr. Heywood for the purpose of making a comparison of the present city system of scavenging with the street orderly system gives the table in the opposite page to show the cost of street cleansing and dusting within the jurisdiction of the city court of sewers Mr. Heywood then invites attention to the subjoined statement of the National Philanthropic Association on the occurrence of a demonstration as to the efficiency and economy of the street orderly system Association for the promotion of street paving cleansing draining and so on 20 veer Street Oxford Street January 26th 1846 Approximation to the total expenses connected with cleansing as an experiment certain parts of the city of London commencing December 1845 for the period of two months 350 brooms being an average of 5 brooms for each man 25 pounds 18 shillings 10 pounds for carting 99 pounds 1 shilling 9 pounds for advertising 65 shillings for rent of store room 3 pounds 14 shillings clerk salaries 12 pounds messengers 5 pounds 5 shillings wooden clogs for men 10 pounds expenses of washing wood pavement 5 pounds 28 pounds 4 shillings 10 pounds expenses of boroughs 24 pounds 14 shillings Christmas dinner to men foreman and superintendents 97 15 pounds 12 shillings 6 pounds 83 men averaging at 2 shillings 6 pounds per day for 9 weeks 573 pounds 15 shillings 4 superintendents at 25 shillings 4 pounds foreman at 18 shillings cart foreman 20 shillings storekeeper 18 shillings chief superintendents 2 pounds for 9 weeks 112 pounds 10 shillings for various small articles brushes, rakes and so on 36 pounds 7 shillings 8 pounds petty expenses of the office postages and so on and stationery 6 pounds approximation to the total cost of the expense 987 pounds 4 shillings 7 pence signed M. Davis secretary I will now, says Mr. Haywood, without further present reference to the report of the association proceed to form an estimate of the expenses of the system as they would have been if it had been extended to the whole city and which estimate will be based upon the information as to the expenses of the system furnished by the experiment or demonstration made by the association within your jurisdiction the total cost of the experiment was 987 pounds 4 shillings 7 pence and deducting the charges under the head of advertising Christmas dinner and petty cash expenses and also that for office rent clerks messengers and so on and assigning 50 pounds as the value of the implements at that time for future use there is left a balance of 822 pounds 7 shillings 3 pence as the clear cost of the experiment the experiment was tried for a period of 8 weeks exactly according to the return made to the commission by the superintendent of the association but as in the statement of expenses the wages appear to be included for a period of 9 weeks I have assumed 9 weeks as the correct figure and the experiment must therefore have cost a sum of 822 pounds 7 shillings 3 pence for that period or at the rate of about 91 pounds per week table showing the cost of street cleansing and dusting within the jurisdiction of the city court of sewers year ending Michael mess 1841 mode of contracting whether the contracts for dusting and scavenging were let separately or together separately leading or principle feature in the regulations for the dusting and cleansing main streets of largest traffic running east and west cleansed daily other principal streets every other day the whole of the remainder of the public ways twice a week dust to be removed at least twice a week some paid for scavenging and dusting or for scavenging only during the year 590 pounds 6 shillings some received by commission for sale of dust when the contracts were let separately amounts paid and received are balanced total disbursement by the commission for scavenging and dusting 4590 pounds 6 shillings year ending Michael mess 1842 mode of contracting separately principal feature as for 1841 some paid 3633 pounds 17 shillings some received amounts paid and received are balanced total disbursements 3633 pounds 17 shillings year ending Michael mess 1843 mode of contracting together leading or principle feature for 1841 and 1842 some paid 2084 pounds 4 shillings and 6 pounds some received amounts paid and received are balanced total disbursement 2084 pounds 4 shillings and 6 pounds average per annum for 3 years 3436 pounds 2 shillings 6 pounds year ending Michael mess 1844 mode of contracting separately leading or principle feature main line of streets cleansed daily other principal streets every other day and all other place twice in every week dust to be removed at least twice a week some paid 3826 pounds 12 shillings 6 pounds some received by commission some paid and received are balanced total disbursement 3826 pounds 12 shillings 6 pounds year ending Michael mess 1845 mode of contracting separately leading or principle feature as for 1844 some paid 2833 pounds 2 shillings some received are balanced total disbursement 2833 pounds 2 shillings average per annum of the 2 years 3329 pounds 17 shillings and 3 pounds year ending Michael mess 1846 mode of contracting separately leading or principle feature daily cleansing throughout every public way of every description dust to be removed twice a week some paid 6034 pounds 6 shillings some received 1354 pounds 5 shillings total disbursement 4680 pounds 1 shilling year ending Michael mess 1847 mode of contracting separately as for 1846 some paid 814 pounds 2 shillings some received 4455 pounds 5 shillings total disbursement 3558 pounds 17 shillings year ending Michael mess 1848 mode of contracting separately leading or principle feature as for 1846 some paid 7226 pounds 1 shilling 6 pence some received 1328 pounds 15 shillings total disbursement 5897 pounds 6 shillings in 6 pence year ending Michael mess 1849 mode of contracting together leading or principle feature as for 1846 some paid 7486 pounds 11 shillings in 6 pence some received 0 total disbursement 7486 pounds 11 shillings 6 pence year ending Michael mess 1850 mode of contracting together leading or principle feature as for 1846 some paid 6779 pounds 16 shillings some received 0 total disbursement 6779 pounds 16 shillings year ending Michael mess 1851 mode of contracting together leading or principle feature as for 1846 some paid 6328 pounds 17 shillings some received 0 total disbursement 6328 pounds 17 shillings average per annum of the last 6 years 5788 pounds 11 shillings 6 pence now the total area of the carriageway of the city of London was at that time 418,000 square yards and the area of the footway 316,000 square yards making a total of 734,000 square yards and the area of the carriageway cleaned by the street orderlies was 30,670 square yards and the area of the footway 18,590 square yards making a total of 49,260 square yards the total area of footway of the carriageway cleansed was therefore 115th of the whole of the carriageway and footway of the city or taken separately the carriageway cleansed was somewhat more than 114th of the whole of the city carriageway it has been seen also that the total cost of cleansing this 114th portion of the carriageway after deducting all extraneous expenses was at the rate per week of 91 pounds or at the rate per annum £4,732 to assign an expenditure in the same proportion for the remaining 1314th of the whole carriageway area of the city would not be just for in the first place allowance must be made owing to the dirt brought off from the adjacent streets which it has assumed would not have been the case had they also been cleansed upon the street orderly system and moreover as the majority of the streets cleansed were those of large traffic a larger proportion of labour was needed to them than would have been the case had the experiment been upon any equal area of carriageway taken from a district comprehending streets of all sizes and degrees of traffic but if I assume that the 114th portion of the city cleansed represents 111th of the whole in the labour needed for cleansing the whole of the city upon the same system I believe I shall have very fair deduction and shall if anything err in favour of the experiment estimating therefore the expense of cleansing the whole of the city carriageway upon the street orderly system according to the expenses of the experiment made in 1845 to 1846 and from the data then furnished it appears that cleansing upon such system would have come to an annual sum of 52,052 pounds it will be seen that there is a remarkable difference between this estimate of 52,052 pounds per annum and that of 18,000 pounds per annum estimated by the association and given in their report of the 26th of January 1846 and what is more remarkable is that my estimate is framed not upon any assumption of my own but is a dry calculation based upon the very figures of expense by the association itself and herein before recited a second demonstration carried on in the city by the street orderlies is detailed by Mr. Haywood but as he draws the same conclusions from it there is no necessity to do other than allude to it here according to the above estimate it certainly must be admitted that the difference between the two accounts is as Mr. Haywood says remarkable the one being nearly three times more than the other but let us for fairness's sake test the cost of cleansing the city thoroughfares upon the continuous plan of scavenging by the figures given in Mr. Haywood's own report and see whether the above conclusion is warranted by the facts there stated from June 1846 to June 1847 we have seen that several of the main streets in the city were cleansed continuously throughout the day by what were called day men that is to say 47,000 superficial yards of the principal thoroughfares were kept clean after the daily cleansing of them by the contractors men by a body of men similar in their mode of operation to the street orderlies and who removed all the dirt as soon as deposited between the hours of the principal traffic the cost of this experiment for such it seems to have been was for the 12 months as we have seen £1,528.18 shillings now if the expense of cleansing 47,000 superficial yards upon the continuous method was £1,529 then according to Cocker 770,157 yards the total area of the public ways of the city would cost £25,054 and adding to this £6,328 for the sum paid to the contractors for the daily scavenging we have only £31,382 for the gross expense of cleansing the whole of the city thoroughfares once a day by the regular scavengers and keeping them clean afterwards by a body similar to the street orderlies a difference of upwards £20,000 between the facts and figures of the city surveyor it would appear to me therefore that Mr Haywood has erred in estimating the probable expense of the street orderly system of scavenging applied to the city at £52,000 per annum for by his own showing it actually cost the authorities for the one year when it was tried there only £1,529 for £1,000 superficial yards at which rate £770,000 could not cost more than £31,500 and this even allowing that the same amount of labour would be required for the continuous cleansing of the minor thoroughfares as was needed for the principal ones that the error is an oversight on the part of the city surveyor the whole tone of his report is sufficient to assure us for it is at once accurate and candid it must on the other hand be admitted that Mr Haywood is perfectly correct as to the difference between the cost of the demonstration of the street orderly system of cleansing in the city and the estimated cost of that mode of scavenging when brought into regular operation there this however the years experience of the city daemon shows could not possibly exceed £32,000 might and probably would be much less when we take into account the smaller quantity of labour required for the minor thoroughfares the extra value of the street manure when collected free from mud the saving in the expense of watering the streets this not being required under the orderly system and the abolition of the daily scavenging which is included in the sum above cited but which would be no longer needed where the orderlies employed such work being performed by them at the commencement of their days labourers so that I am disposed to believe all things considered that somewhere about £20,000 per annum might be the gross expense of continuously cleansing the city Mr Cochran estimates it at £18,000 but whether the admitted superior cleanliness of the streets and the employment of an extra number of people will be held by the citizens who will be worth the extra money it is not for me to say if however the increased cleanliness affected by the street orderlies is to be brought about by a decrease of the wages of the regular scavengers from 16 shillings to 12 shillings a week which is the amount upon which Mr Cochran forms his estimate then I do not hesitate to say the city authorities will be gainers in the matter of poor rates at least by an adherence to the present method of scavenging paying as they do the best wages and indeed affording an illustrious example to all the metropolitan parishes in refusing to grant contracts to any master scavengers but such as consent to deal fairly with the men in their employ and I do hope and trust for the sake of the working men the city commissioners of Sewers will should they decide upon having the city cleansed continuously make the same requirement as Mr Cochran before they allow his street orderlies to displace the regular scavengers at present employed there benefits to the community gained at the expense of the people are really great evils the street orderly system is a good one when applied to parishes employing poppers and paying them one shilling a penny hate me and a loaf per day or even nothing except their food for their labour poppers into independent labourers but applied to those localities where the highest wages are paid and there is the greatest regard shown for the welfare of the workmen it is merely a scurve system of degrading the independent labourers to the level of poppers by reducing the wages of the regular scavengers from 16 shillings to 12 shillings per week the avowed object of the street orderly system is to provide employment for able bodied men and so to prevent them becoming a burden to the parish but is not a reduction of the scavengers wages to the extent of 25% a week more likely to encourage than to prevent such a result this is the weak point of the orderly system and one which gentlemen calling themselves philanthropists should really blush to be parties to after all the opinion to which I am led is this the street orderly system is incomparably the best mode of scavenging and the payment of the men by honourable masters the best mode of employing the scavengers the evils of the scavenging trade appear to me to spring chiefly from the persimony of the parish authorities either employing their own poppers without adequate remuneration or else paying such prices to the contractors as almost necessitates the underpayment of the men and their employ where I to fill a volume this is all that could be said on the matter end of section 51