| The Cab Horse's Charter back to 'William Booth - Famous Words'
When William Booth began his work in East London in 1865, the poor were very poor. By 1890, more than ever disturbed by their needs, Booth the preacher, the evangelist, began to be known also as a social reformer.
In October he published his book, In Darkest England and the Way Out. Twelve months later over a quarter of a million copies had been published, and the profits were ploughed back into the scheme outlined in the book. He offered a plan, 'a very humble one, but if realized it would solve the worst problems of modern society '. He called it The Cab Horse's Charter.
He maintained that if a cab horse, (the forerunner of the engine of a taxi) fell, we would do all we could to put it on its feet again, without any questions being asked. It had 'a shelter for the night, food for its stomach and work allotted to it by which it can earn its corn.' That,' he continued, 'although a humble standard, is at present absolutely unattainable by millions - literally by millions - of our fellow men and women.'
|