| In Darkest England - History Of The Scheme back to 'In Darkest England and the Way Out'
The plight of the poor in the 1880s was caused by the administration of the Poor Law. The State accepted responsibility for providing shelter and food for every man, woman and child who was destitute but they fulfilled this responsibility in such a way that poverty became a stigma. Those temporarily without a home were provided with shelter at a casual ward. There they were made to pick oakum or break stones - the traditional task of prisoners. The necessity to complete the required task caused great strain on those who were often weak with hunger. The principle seemed to be to make life for the poor so intolerable that they would seek employment more diligently. The fact that most of the paupers would have liked nothing more than a secure job escaped the notice of the authorities. Only those with nothing left but the clothes they wore were allowed a place in the workhouse. It was a dubious honour-the conditions there brought many to despair.
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In 1890, Booth's controversial book, In Darkest England and The Way Out was published. In it he presented his plans for a programme which helped the poor and needy. His ideas were summarised in what he termed 'The Cab-Horse Charter' which read 'when a horse is down he is helped up, and while he lives he has food, shelter and work'. Booth realised that this meagre standard was absolutely unattainable by millions of people in Britain yet the fact remained that cab horses were treated to a better standard of living than many people.
He appealed to the public for £100,000 to start his scheme and a further £30,000 per year to maintain the programme.
Despite a lack of immediate funds Booth decided to put his plan into action. The first thing to be set up was a labour bureau to help people find work. He purchased a farm where men could be trained in certain types of work and at the same time gain some self-respect, because often when men had been unemployed for some years their confidence needed to be restored.
From this farm colony, men could be further helped through emigration to an overseas colony, where labourers were few. Whole families could be helped to a much better standard of living.
Other projects included a missing persons bureau to help find missing relatives and reunite families, more hostels for the homeless and a poor mans bank which could make small loans to workers who could buy tools or set up in a trade.
Booth's book sold 200,000 copies within the first year. Nine years after publication The Salvation Army had served 27 million cheap meals, lodged 11 million homeless people, traced 18,000 missing people and found jobs for 9,000 unemployed people.
Booth's book was used as a blueprint for the present day welfare state when it was set up by the government in 1948. Many of Booth's ideas were incorporated into the welfare state system.
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