THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE “ BITTER CRY.”

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXI, Issue 7178, 1 March 1884, Page 3

THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE “ BITTER CRY.”

(Pall mil Gazette.) The old year, was saved—if only just saved—from the disgrace attaching to so many of its precursors of having contributed nothing to the work of lessening the gross evils connected with the dwellings of the poor. The two , excellent circulars of the Local Government Board, dated Dec. 29 and 31, and dealing respectively with the regulations to be adopted for lodging-houses and with the general question of the dwellings of the labouring classes, are the first fruits, as far as administration is concerned, of that bitter cry which was raised little more than two months ago in a small pamphlet, that at first bid fair to fall |p the ground unheeded; and has since bean echoing from one end of England to the other. They are ipdead far from being the only effects of it. y The columns of every newspaper during the last two months have home witness, not only to the univeTsalintorest excited in the subject, a thing in itself of the greatest importance*, but to the practical steps which are being taken by private persons, to the fresh organisations of volunteer workers which are being formed, to promote the improvement of dwellings and enforce the sanitary laws. We shall have to go back a long time to discover an agitation on any social question in England which has produced so prompt, so widespread, and, as we believe, so enduring an effect. The first excitement, indeed, is already passing over, and the cynics are pointing to the fact with exultation as evidence of the essential uselessness of all’sucH agitation. But the truth is that, though the excitement naturally was ephemeral, its effects remain. The sensational exaggerations by which every deep stirring of the popular mind is necessarily accompanied soon die, and it is-vweU. they should die. But the essential truths which underlie every agitation that has real life in it remain stamped move deeply than before upon the minds of men.

And this is the real gain. Circulars are very well, and no fair man will deny the high praise which it deserves to the excellent work of the Local Government Board. Sir Charles. Dilke has immensely increased his popularity and his reputation as an administrator, both already great, by the energy, the lucidity, and the promptness which have characterised his actions and his utterance in this matter. It is an excellent thing to bring home to the London vestries and district boards, with the force and distinctness, unalloyed by ostentation dr extravagance, • which characterise his recent Circulars, the great extent of their powers, and the deep dissatisfaction which is caused by the imperfect exercise of them. It is an immense advantage not only for the local authorities, but for the public, to have the existing law gathered from cut a number of confusing statutes into the four brief and clear digests which accompany the circular of Doc. 31. Especially is this the case with regard to the provisions for the removal of nuisances, which while they were consolidated for the rest of the country in a Public Health Act of 1875, have in London, in order to be in keeping with the familiar characteristics of metropolitan administration, been hitherto allowed to remain a chaos. But when everything has been said that can be said for the work of the Local' Government Board, the fact remains that it is in the altered feelings of the community rather than in the extraordinary activity of the Government that the greatest gain of the recent movement must be sought. These two Circulars speak not only with the voice and authority of a Government office, but with the far stronger voice and weightier authority of the people of England. In theory, no doubt, every act of Government has that sanction, but we know that, in fact, its acts are often singularly devoid of any such support. Take, for instance, the Board’s letter of July 18, to which reference is made in the beginning of the Circular of Deo. 31. What effect has that had ? It is notorious that, up to the time when the present agitation began to assume formidable dimensions, it was treated in most quarters with a polite disregard. In future, there is every ; reason to hope disregard of such admonitions will be impossible. ,We have ho . wish to join- in the chorus of abuse ,th%ib has been raised against the vestries. There is gross corruption, no doubt, in some cases, but on the whole their failure is due less to corruption than to apathy. That apathy can only be counteractea in two ways —• by the improvement of the personnel of the vestriOs and boards and by the steady, remorseless pressure of public opinion. The former is to a great extent a question of the amount of personal devotion to be found among tho well educated and well to do.' It is a collateral advantage of “ bitter cries,” however our cynical friends may gibe at them, that they increase the number of those willing to take part in the irksome work which local authorities have to do, by bringing home to wider circles the vital importance of that distasteful business. As for that still more important factor, the maintenance of a lively public interest, it is the business of the preachers and of the Press. With the immense start which the recent agitation has given them, it will be little to their credit indeed if they.connot keep tho public as well as the politicians up to the mark in respect of this vital question.