CONCLUSION 415 



however, she said she had been out of work three 

 months, and could not get any. She was a widow 

 and lived with her sister in Great Brook Street. The 

 woman added that she was now very sorry for what 

 she had done, and declared that she would not repeat 

 the offence. Prisoner's sister came forward, and said 

 Woodfield's story was true. She remarked that the 

 woman had slept on her sofa for the last thirteen 

 weeks. Prisoner was discharged, the Stipendiary ad- 

 vising her to go to the workhouse." (" Birmingham 

 Daily Mail," September 20th, 1904.)^ 



It is difficult for those of us who have warm beds 

 and regular meals, and who look upon these and other 

 comforts as matters of course, almost as natural phe- 

 nomena, to realize the state of things which the fore- 

 going circumstances indicate. The ignorance (not 

 want of sympathy) which prompted the question, 

 "Why don't they eat cakes?" is not confined to the 

 French princess, but is shared by large numbers of 

 the two or three million persons who constitute the 

 wealthy classes in the kingdom. But it is a state 

 of things that cannot last. It is an ostrich-like pro- 

 ceeding to ignore the social revolution — the war 

 among classes — now actively going on. The centre 

 of political power has been shifting during recent years. 

 The Tory and Whig parties with their honestly held 

 doctrines and convictions have all disappeared. The 

 laisser-faire (let alone) tenet, once held as an article 

 of faith by the old Manchester school, is no longer 

 heard of. State interference with all trades, from 



^ At the same time, in the churches in and around our slums, that 

 beautiful oblation, "A General Thanksgiving," is ofifered up : "We bless 

 Thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life." 

 Truly we love to whiten our sepulchres, and to put face-cloths on our 

 dead ! 



