Preface

The experiences related in this volume fell to me
in the summer of 1902. I went down into the
under-world of London with an attitude of mind
which I may best liken to that of the explorer. I
was open to be convinced by the evidence of my
eyes, rather than by the teachings of those who had
not seen, or by the words of those who had seen
and gone before. Further, I took with me certain
simple criteria with which to measure the life of the
under-world. That which made for more life, for
physical and spiritual health, was good; that which
made for less life, which hurt, and dwarfed, and dis
torted life, was bad.

It will be readily apparent to the reader that I
saw much that was bad. Yet it must not be for
gotten that the time of which I write was con
sidered " good times " in England. The starvation
and lack of shelter I encountered constituted a
chronic condition of misery which is never wiped
out, even in the periods of greatest prosperity.

Following the summer in question came a hard
winter. To such an extent did the suffering and
positive starvation increase that society was unable
to cope with it. Great numbers of the unem
ployed formed into processions, as many as a dozen

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