Praise For The East End

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18763, 20 July 1935, Page 9

Praise For The East End

“TN an hotel lounge recently I met a mail who had done a lot of social work in the Fast End ol London,” writes Peter Woods, in “Doorwavs to Happiness.” “He talked about the bad conditions, the overcrowding, the lack ot suitable recreation, ihe hardship ol casual labor, and so on. “And then he said. ‘The tiling that impresses me most about the East End folk is their amazing good ness. ’ “Afv heart went oui lo him for that. Not. so much for what it said about East Enders —they deserve ii but for wliat it said so eloquently about himself. He was a man with an eye for goodness. “lie went out looking for goodness, and the wilderness of East End streets blossomed as ihe rose belore hint. He always believed tin*’ best o* people, and so they produced their best in his company. “Jr is almost always so. Nothing evokes the best so much as trust. Nothing brings out the worst like sns pic ion. “Of course, if you go about ready and eager to believe the best ol every body, somebody’s sure to let you down. But if you go about believing folks arc a bad lot, you are lofting yourself down. “ ‘ Ugliness is only skin-deep,’ said the artist in ‘The Third Floor Back.’ There are good folk everywhere. ’ ’