CONCLUSION 413 



" An inquest was held at Stoke Newington un 

 Minnie Porter, 27, who hanged herself. Her little 

 daughter was examined. Coroner : Had you any 

 dinner that day ? No ; we only had some tea in the 

 morning. I had a bit of bread and dripping, but 

 mother had only tea. The jury came to the conclu- 

 sion that this woman had become insane through 

 poverty." (" Birmingham Daily Post," September ist, 

 1904.) 



" At Marylebone Police Court on Saturday a sad 

 case of poverty was brought to light during the hear- 

 ing of a prosecution in which a respectably dressed 

 young man of smart appearance, named Frank Porter, 

 27, was charged with stealing a purse containing 12s. 

 Police-constable Gale said he caught the prisoner 

 as he was running away with the purse in his hand. 

 He at once began to sob bitterly, and in reply to the 

 charge he said, * I have been out of work three 

 months, and I was hungry. I went to the house to 

 see a cook I once knew, and seeing the purse on the 

 chest of drawers, the temptation was too much for me, 

 and I took it.' Asked what he had to say in his 

 defence, the prisoner burst into tears. For three 

 months, he said, he had walked about and done 

 everything he could think of to get work, but all his 

 efforts had proved of no avail, and he felt ashamed to 

 go home. ' I would have done anything,' he added ; 

 ' I would have even picked the roads if only I could 

 have earned enough to provide food for my wife and 

 our two poor little children. A man at a coffee-house 

 has kindly sent us bones and bits of meat, and Pd 

 have sold the home up, but it's all on hire. I have 

 written dozens of letters for situations, and I have 

 had to pawn my coat to get the stamps to post them, 

 but nothing comes of it all. All the clothes I have 

 are what I stand in.' His wife, who also appeared 

 greatly distressed, said he had never been in trouble 

 before, and she bore out his statement that he had 



