THE KING AND LONDON'S POOR.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 116, 17 May 1902, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE KING AND LONDON'S POOR.

£30,000 FOE A CORONATION

DINNER.

; Last Tuesday the Lord Mayor of London held a court of the Mayors ■of the metropolitan boroughs to discuss the ways and means of giving the best effect to the King's desire to celebrate his Coronation by giving a. dinner to about half a million, of his poorest subjects living in London at an expense to his own private purse of £30,000. This sum the King- considers will suffice to cover the cost of the. dinners and leave sufficient to provide^each diner, with a Coronation Cup, or some other inexpensive souvenir of the occasion. ' The King of course looks forward to each district finding a hall or other place wherein to accommodate the diners, and for the co-operation of friendly citizens in the various boroughs willing to act as carvers, waiters, etc., at the feast, or to convey the fare and gift to such of those selected to partake of the Royal feast who by reason of age or infirmity cannot leave their homes. King Edward has made .it clear that he has no desire to waste his substance on the wastrels of the great city. The people. he desires to bid to the dinner are the self-res-pecting poor, who within the knowledge of their neighbours have always striven to do their duty in that state of life to which they have been called. The greatest care is to be exercised in selecting His Majesty's •guests, and in order to ensure the worthiness of those bidden the King has xnSLrres±eas~~ mav ~ *"■ ea^g~qiscnthr-^ ffie cnoice of guests shall be made only among--those "who have lived in the borough or parish for several years, and whose antecedents are well known to the respective committees appointed to deal with each locality. Apparently those honest poor who have been driven to take refuge in the workhouses are not to be included in the rank of ellgibles, but at present no definite scheme for giving effect to the King's hospitable desires has been evolved. The Mayors desire to consult their > local conncilsP clergy," and philanthropists, and to ascertain of eacii what proportion of the King's guest their respective localities can fairly, put forward. Pending the obtain--ing of such information they have" formed themselves into a Central Committee, and given themselves a' month wherein to gather together, relevant statistical matter and the' necessary facts.

Thirty thousand ' pounds is a; big sum, but it will have to be very carefully handled if it is to provide a "kingly feast" for half a million souls, and leave enough, over to pay for even a cheap souvenir, cup. A shilling a head means £25,000, and you cannot, even on big lines, make much of a show in meat, vegetables, puddintg-s, and liquids at that price, even if your service, etc., is given free. But no doubt, in spite of the Kong's expressed desire to give the feast entirely .at his own expense, many; efforts will be made sub xosa to expand the purchasing power of the sum he has so generously offered.