Page:A letter on pauperism and crime.djvu/7



To what cause are we to attribute the immense amount of Pauperism and Crime, amongst the industrial classes, at the present time? I answer, primarily, to the maudlin philanthropy which characterizes the community at large, in regard to both these questions.

It is asserted, with a confidence that will admit of no contradiction, that, which, when interpreted, means that every man who is too debased to earn his own livelihood has a right to live at the expense of his neighbours. The assertion, however, is contradicted, in the most unmistakable manner, by the highest of all authority. We read, For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any man would not work, neither should he eat. In other words, the Apostle asserts, that, if a man is a lazy, idle vagabond, you may, with a clear conscience, leave him to starve; nay, more, the