In Darkest England, and the Way Out

by William Booth

SECTION 2.—HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

A considerable amount of money will be required to fairly launch this Scheme, and some income may be necessary to sustain it for a season, but, once fairly afloat, we think there is good reason to believe that in all its branches it will be self-supporting, unless its area of operation is largely extended, on which we fully rely. Of course, the cost of the effort must depend very much upon its magnitude. If anything is to be done commensurate with the extent of the evil, it will necessarily require a proportionate outlay. If it is only the drainage of a garden that is undertaken, a few pounds will meet the cost, but if it is a great dismal swamp of many miles in area, harbouring all manner of vermin, and breeding all kinds of deadly malaria, that has to be reclaimed and cultivated, a very different sum will not only be found necessary, but be deemed an economic investment.

Seeing that the country pays out something like Ten Millions per annum in Poor Law and Charitable Relief without securing any real abatement of the evil, I cannot doubt that the public will hasten to supply one-tenth of that sum. If you reckon that of the submerged tenth we have one million to deal with, this will only be one pound per head for each of those whom it is sought to benefit, or say ONE MILLION STERLING to give the present Scheme a fair chance of getting into practical operation.

According to the amount furnished, must necessarily be the extent of our operations. We have carefully calculated that with one hundred thousand pounds the scheme can be successfully set in motion, and that it can be kept going on an annual income of #30,000 which is about three and a-quarter per cent. on the balance of the million sterling, for which I ask as an earnest that the public intend to put its hand to this business with serious resolution; and our judgment is based, not on any mere imaginings, but upon the actual result of the experiments already made. Still it must be remembered that so vast and desirable an end cannot be even practically contemplated without a proportionate financial outlay. Supposing, however, by the subscription of this amount the undertaking is fairly set afloat. The question may be asked, "What further funds will be required for its efficient maintenance?" This question we proceed to answer. Let us look at the three Colonies apart, and then at some of the circumstances which apply to the whole. To begin with, there is

THE FINANCIAL ASPECT OF THE CITY COLONY.

Here there will be, of course, a considerable outlay required for the purchasing and fitting up of property, the acquisition of machinery, furniture, tools, and the necessary plant for carrying forward all these varied operations. These once acquired, no further outlay will be needed except for the necessary reparations.

The Homes for the Destitute will be nearly, if not quite, self-sustaining. The Superior Homes for both Single and Married people will not only pay for themselves, but return some interest on the amount invested, which would be devoted to the futherance of other parts of the Scheme.

The Refuges for Fallen Girls would require considerable funds to keep them going. But the public has never been slow to practically express its sympathy with this class of work.

The Criminal Homes and Prison Gate Operations would require continued help, but not a very great deal. Then, the work in the Slums is somewhat expensive. The eighty young women at present engaged in it cost on an average 12s. per week each for personal maintenance, inclusive of clothes and other little matters, and there are expenses for Halls and some little relief which cannot in anyway be avoided, bringing our present annual Slum outlay to over #4,000. But the poor people amongst whom they work notwithstanding their extreme poverty, are already contributing over #1,000 per annum towards this amount, which income will increase. Still as by this Scheme we propose to add at once a hundred to the number already engaged, money will be required to keep th is department going.

The Inebriate Home, I calculate, will maintain itself. All its inmates will have to engage in some kind of remunerative labour, and we calculate, in addition, upon receiving money with a considerable number of those availing themselves of its benefits. But to practically assist the half-million slaves of the cup we must have money not only to launch out but to keep our operations going.

The Food Depots, once fitted up, pay their own working expenses.

The Emigration, Advice, and Inquiry Bureaux must maintain themselves or nearly so. The Labour Shops, Anti-Sweating, and other similar operations will without question require money to make ends meet. But on the whole, a very small sum of money, in proportion to the immense amount of work done, will enable us to accomplish a vast deal of good.

THE FARM COLONY FROM A FINANCIAL POINT OF VIEW.

Let us now turn to the Farm Colony, and consider it from a monetary standpoint. Here also a certain amount of money will have to be expended at the outset; some of the chief items of which will be the purchase of land, the erection of buildings, the supply of stock, and the production of first crops. There is an abundance of land in the market, at the present time, at very low prices. It is rather important for the initial experiment that an estate should be obtained not too far from London, with land suitable for immediate cultivation. Such an estate would beyond question be expensive. After a time, I have no doubt, we shall be able to deal with land of almost any quality (and that in almost any part of the country), in consequence of the superabundance of labour we shall possess. There is no question if the scheme goes forward, but that estates will be required in connection with all our large towns and cities. I am not without hope that a sufficient quantity of land will be given, or, in any way, sold to us on very favourable terms.

When acquired and stocked, it is calculated that this land, if cultivated by spade husbandry, will support at least two persons per acre. The ordinary reckoning of those who have had experience with allotments gives five persons to three acres. But, even supposing that this calculation is a little too sanguine, we can still reckon a farm of 500 acres supporting, without any outside assistance, say, 750 persons. But, in this Scheme, we should have many advantages not possessed by the simple peasant, such as those resulting from combination, market gardening, and the other forms of cultivation already referred to, and thus we should want to place two or three times this number on that quantity of land.

By a combination of City and Town Colonies, there will be a market for at least a large portion of the products. At the rate of our present consumption in the London Food Depots and Homes for the Destitute alone, at least 50 acres would be required for potatoes alone, and every additional Colonist would be an additional consumer.

There will be no rent to pay, as it is proposed to buy the land right out. In the event of a great rush being made for the allotment's spoken of, further land might be rented, with option of purchase.

Of course, the continuous change of labourers would tell against the profitableness of the undertaking. But this would be proportionally beneficial to the country, seeing that everyone who passes through the institution with credit makes one less in the helpless crowd.

The rent of Cottages and Allotments would constitute a small return, and at least pay interest on the money invested in them.

The labour spent upon the Colony would be constantly increasing its money value. Cottages would be built, orchards planted, land enriched, factories run up, warehouses erected, while other improvements would be continually going forward. All the labour and a large part of the material would be provided by the Colonists themselves.

It may be suggested that the worker would nave to be maintained during the progress of these erections and manufactures, the cost of which would in itself amount to a considerable sum. Truer and for this the first outlay would be required. But after this every cottage erected, every road made, in short every structure and improvement, would be a means of carrying forward the regenerating process, and in many cases it is expected will become a source of income.

As the Scheme progresses, it is not irrational to expect that Government, or some of the varied Local Authorities, will assist in the working out of a plan which, in so marked a manner, will relieve the rates and taxes or the country.

The salaries of Officers would be in keeping with those given in the
Salvation Army, which are very low.

No wages would be paid to Colonists, as has been described, beyond pocket money and a trifle for extra service.

Although no permanent invalid would be knowingly taken into the Colonies, it is fair to assume that there will be a certain number, and also a considerable residuum of naturally indolent, half-witted people, incapable of improvement, left upon our hands. Still, it is thought that with reformed habits, variety of employment, and careful oversight, such may be made to earn their own maintenance, at least, especially when it is borne in mind that unless they work, so far as they have ability, they cannot remain in the Colony.

If the Household Salvage Scheme which has been explained in Chapter II. proves the success we anticipate, there can be no question that great financial assistance will be rendered by it to the entire scheme when once the whole thing has been brought into working order.

THE FINANCIAL ASPECT OF THE COLONY OVER-SEA.

Let us now turn to the Colony Over-Sea, and regard it also from the financial standpoint. Here we must occupy ourselves chiefly with the preliminary outlay, as we could not for a moment contemplate having to find money to assist it when once fairly established. The initial expense will, no doubt, be somewhat heavy, but not beyond a reasonable amount.

The land required would probably be given, whether we go to Africa, Canada, or elsewhere; anyway, it would be acquired on such easy terms as would be a near approach to a gift.

A considerable sum would certainly be necessary for effecting the first settlements. There would be temporary buildings to erect, land to break up and crop; stock, farm implements, and furniture to purchase, and other similar expenses. But this would not be undertaken on a large scale, as we should rely, to some extent, on the successive batches of Colonists more or less providing for themselves, and in this respect working out their own salvation.

The amount advanced for passages, outfit money, and settlement would be repaid by instalments by the Colonists, which would in turn serve to pay the cost of conveying others to the same destination.

Passage and outfit money would, no doubt, continue to be some difficulty. #8 per head, say to Africa—#5 passage money, and #3 for the journey across the country—is a large sum when a considerable number are involved; and I am afraid no Colony would be reached at a much lower rate. But I am not without hope that the Government might assist us in this direction.

Taking up the entire question, that is of the three Colonies, we are satisfied that the sum named will suffice to set to work an agency which will probably rescue from lives of degradation and immorality an immense number of people, and that an income of something like #30,000 will keep it afloat. But supposing that a much larger amount should be required, by operations greatly in advance of those here spoken of, which we think exceedingly probable, it is not unreasonable to expect that it will be forthcoming, seeing that caring for the poor is not only a duty of universal obligation, a root principle of all religion, but an instinct of humanity not likely to be abolished in our time. We are not opposed to charity as such, but to the mode of its administration, which, instead of permanently relieving, only demoralises and plunges the recipients lower in the mire, and so defeats its own purpose.

"What!" I think I hear some say, "a million sterling! how can any man out of Bedlam dream of raising such a sum?" Stop a little! A million may be a great deal to pay for a diamond or a palace, but it is a mere trifle compared with the sums which Britain lavishes whenever Britons are in need of deliverance if they happen to be imprisoned abroad. The King of Ashantee had captive some British subjects—not even of English birth—in 1869. John Bull despatched General Wolseley with the pick of the British army, who smashed Koffee Kalkallee, liberated the captives, and burnt Coomassie, and never winced when the bill came in for #750,000. But that was a mere trifle. When King Theodore, of Abyssinia, made captives of a couple of British representatives, Lord Napier was despatched to rescue. He marched his army to Magdala, brought back the prisoners, and left King Theodore dead. The cost of that expedition was over nine millions sterling. The Egyptian Campaign, that smashed Arabi, cost nearly five millions. The rush to Khartoum, that arrived too late to rescue General Gordon, cost at least as much. The Afghan war cost twenty-one millions sterling. Who dares then to say that Britain cannot provide a million sterling to rescue, not one or two captives, but a million, whose lot is quite as doleful as that of the prisoners of savage kings, but who are to be found, not in the land of the Soudan, or in the swamps of Ashantee, or in the Mountains of the Moon, but here at our very doors? Don't talk to me about the impossibility of raising the million. Nothing is impossible when Britain is in earnest. All talk of impossibility only means that you don't believe that the nation cares to enter upon a serious campaign against the enemy at our gates. When John Bull goes to the wars he does not count the cost. And who dare deny that the time has fully come for a declaration of war against the Social Evils which seem to shut out God from this our world?