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Chapter 1- Introduction -
From Poverty by James Platt

Page 12 Introduction

If the working man wants to have more comfort, cleaner, purer, more roomy dwelling-houses, to enjoy life; he must avoid drink, he will be a better man, more healthy and more thoughtful, more like a man, less like a beast. There can be no thrift by a drunkard; he is a curse to himself, and must be a burden upon others, and most likely will leave children behind him to follow in his steps. We must somehow make these people see that it is their interest to

 
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Books - Factual

Sociology

Poverty - by James Platt

be sober, by showing them plainly and unmistakably, in language they can comprehend, the retribution that follows upon every excess. The only way to extirpate pauperism, to lessen the ranks of the vagrants and the outcasts, is to instil within them a horror of their degraded condition; show them the greater advantages of leading a sober, industrious, thrifty, manly life. Difficult as it is to live now, we must not forget that there was a time when starvation was a nearly ever-present foe; free trade, an open port, has stopped this; a man has but to earn the money, and he can buy anything he wants. That is the point-how to earn more money; and there is another point involved-how to get the most for our money. To get rid of poverty, the workers are told they must be better paid; but raising wages, means "higher prices." Complaints are made of "high rents." Why are rents so much higher than they were twenty years ago? Part of the advance is due to the competition for the best places; the area of London, or any large town, is limited; choice positions are in demand; the supply is limited; prices go up. But the principal reason for the "higher rents" is the "increased cost" of building a house, and keeping the house, when built, in tenantable repair. The system of paying the men the "highest rate of wages per hour," and charging a profit on the amount paid, has led to our obtaining from builders the maximum of charge for the minimum of work; or, if you contract-and it is very unwise to have the most trivial repairs done unless the price to be paid for them is settled beforehand-then there are generally some "extras," rarely a settlement without some unpleasantness; or, if the houses are

© Peter Smith 2008