KNOWN TO THE POLICE
KNOWN
TO THE POLICE
BY
THOMAS HOLMES
SECRETARY TO THE HOWARD ASSOCIATION
AUTHOR OF
"PICTURES AND PROBLEMS FROM LONDON POLICE COURTS," ETC.
LONDON
EDWARD ARNOLD
1908
[All rights reserved]
DEDICATION
TO HER WHO HAS SHARED MY LIFE, WHO HAS PARTICIPATED IN ALL MY JOYS ANDSORROWS, IN ALL MY HOPES AND FEARS, WHOSE GENTLENESS HAS SOFTENED ME,WHOSE PATIENCE HAS CURBED MY IMPATIENCE, WHOSE FAITH HAS INSPIRED ME,WHOSE SYMPATHY AND SELF-DENIAL HAVE MADE MY LIFE POSSIBLE—TO HER WHOSELOVE HAS NEVER FAILED DO I GRATEFULLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK.
T. H.
PREFACE
The kind reception accorded to a previous book encourages me to believethat another volume dealing with my experiences in the great under-worldof London may not prove unacceptable.
For twenty-five years I have practically lived in this under-world, andthe knowledge that I have obtained has been gathered from sad, and oftenwearying, experience. Yet I have seen so much to encourage and inspireme, that now, in my latter days, I am more hopeful of humanity'sultimate good than ever. Hopeful—nay, I am certain, for I have felt thepulse of humanity, and I know that it throbs with true sympathy. I havelistened to its heart-beats, and I know that they tell in no uncertainmanner that the heart of humanity is sound and true.
Most gladly do I take this opportunity of proclaiming—and I would thatI could proclaim it with a far-reaching voice—that, in spite of allappearances to the contrary, in spite of apparent carelessness,indifference, and selfishness, the rich[Pg viii] are not unmindful of the poor;they do not hate the poor, for I know—and no one knows it better—thatwith many of the rich the present condition of the very poor is a matterof deep and almost heartbreaking concern.
They will be glad—ay, with a great gladness—if some practical way ofameliorating our present conditions can be shown.
But I can speak with more authority for the poor, whom I know, love, andserve. The poor have no ill-feeling toward the rich; they harbour nosuspicions; no envy, hatred, or malice dwell in their simple minds.Their goodness astonishes me, and it rebukes me.
Ah, when we get at the heart of things, rich and poor are very closetogether, and this closeness makes me hopeful; for out of it socialsalvation will come and the day arrive when experiences like unto minewill be impossible, and mine will have passed away as an evil dream.
Sincerely and devoutly I hope that this simple record of some parts ofmy life and my work may tend to bind rich and poor still closer.
One result of my former book, "Pictures and Problems from London PoliceCourts," is to be found at Walton-on-the-Naze—a Home of Rest forLondon's poorest toilers, which the readers of that book generously gaveme the means of establishing. During the present year five hundred poorwomen have rested in it, some of them never[Pg ix] having previously seen thesea. Such profits as accrue to me from the sale of this book will bedevoted to the maintenance and development of this Home.
One wo