Eureka Reporter | 1905-04-28 | Page 3 | Millions Living in Poverty

millions living in poverty according to robert hunter whose recent book on poverty the result of several years experience in char ity and settlement work in chicago and new york has attracted much at at least ten million persons in the united states are living in a con ot acute poverty mr hunter applies the word t to those who may be able to get a bare sustenance but who are not able to obtain those necessaries that will permit them to maintain a state of physical efficiency only the most miserable of them are starving or dependent upon charity mr hunter in his work says that the total number of paupers in the united states in 1891 was about 3 and he be cleves that in the last fourteen years the number of paupers has increased to 4 he bases his figures on the returns from almshouses and on figures supplied by the charity organization so biety of new york city mr hunter adds that in 1899 more than 18 per cent of the people of new york state were recipients of private 01 public charity that in 1903 almost per dent of the people in boston were in distress that 14 per cent of the tarn alles of manhattan were evicted and that every year about 10 per cent ot those who die in manhattan have pau pers burials he adds the most conservative estimate that can fairly be made of the distress existing in the industrial states Is 14 per cent ot the total while in all probability no less than 20 per cent of the people in these states in ordinarily prosperous years are in poverty this brings us to the conclusion that one fifth or 6 persons in the states of new york massachusetts connecticut new jer sey pennsylvania ohio illinois andl ana and michigan are in poverty tak ing halt of this percentage and apply ing it to other states which have important industrial commini ties as tor instance wisconsin colo rado california rhode island etc the conclusion Is that not less than 10 persons in the united states are in poverty