4, EAST END MY CRADLE " SIR,-It is a pity
that Dr. Mallon thought fit to reply to my letter if he can think of no better " argument " than a reiteration of one already exploded by me, and a sneer at the poor publicity of "my pronouncements "—as against, presumably, the "hot news " value of his own. I am not prepared to debate that point. Possibly in my dotage I, too, will be reduced to the pastime of speculating how much more or how much less " famous " I am than everyone else.
I might say in passing, however, that of East Londoners who do know me, none has so far led me to suspect, by his demeanour, that I have jeopardised my physical safety as a result of writing East End My Cradle. On the contrary: not a visit home passes without a resident who knows me or knows of me stopping me in the street to offer his personal congratulations on the book. Messrs. Faber and Faber can testify to the number of telegrams and letters reaching me through their address alone—in almost all cases, let me add, from East Londoners. The reason is simple: they understand fully that my voice is raised not against them but for them—only against their conditions. Had it been otherwise, then my book would not be exhibited in all local book- shops, my photograph would not be displayed in newsagents' windows, and my parents' neighbours would not club their six- pences together to buy copies of my book. The " credibility " of East End My Cradle is therefore quite obviously not " in ques- tion " for them—and they, as Dr. Mallon says, ought to know! I am interested to learn that Dr. Mallon has been a member of the Wholesale Bespoke Tailoring Trade Board, and as such " can give me a few figures." As a worker in the tailoring trade, however, I can give him a few facts—and my facts happen to belie his figures. Every worker knows from experience that in capitalist industry the two rarely tally. In the present instance I challenge Dr. Mallon's figures of a " minimum wage " and " holidays with pay " with the facts outlined in my book—e.g., that the average minimum wage can sink as low as 4os. per week when stretched over a year invariably including several months of idleness ; that "holidays," even when you are lucky enough to get them granted in sweat-shops, are only done so at one's own expense and dependent on trade being " quiet " at the time ; and that sweat-shops, eightma. years after my- first glimpse of them, are still today foul and insanitary dens, with little light, and a lavatory situated either in the room itself or in a proximity close enough to be unhealthy as well as distasteful. It is of no avail to Dr. Mallon to throw the blame on to the unions: without them the position would have been even worse. As a member of a governmental authority in whose power lies to abolish sweat-shops and substitute for them clean and airy factories, he has by his indifference connived in the maintenance of these same sweat-shops.
If Dr. Mallon still denies my facts concerning sweat-shops, I am prepared to conduct him on a tour to prove them, where he will be shown things that are quite familiar to East Londoners, although these have escaped his own attention in spite of having been under his nose " for 3o years." If he does not deny them, then let him at least in all common decency forever hold his peace.
His isolation from the East Londoner's life is, I think, plainly revealed by his suggestion of a " collusion to defeat the law " between a 14-year-old boy and his boss: for anybody with even a slight acquaintance with manual labour would know it is a kind of " collusion " similar to that between an armed gangster who holds up a bank and the clerk who, under threat of his life, " allows " him to do it. " Chicken-hearted " is the term Dr. Mallon applies to such a boy who prefers working to being blacklisted : a particular impertinence, in my opinion, coming from someone who has never known the meaning of real struggle.
I really do not know what to say to the cynicism that my friends " died rather than appeal to the Relieving Officer." Is the question serious? Experiences I have described with Reliev- ing Officers are common to many workers, both in and out of the East End. I know several, and had one myself in 1934, when I was at the beck-and-call of an undersized barbarian in spats whose face, believe me, I shall certainly remember when the working class has its day. This gentleman kept me running round to him day after day, both while I was on the verge of having to give up my lodgings and when I had already lost them: he was obviously experimenting to see whether desperation would drive me to the Army or suicide—which in both cases would save the State money. Even though his treatment failed to do either, I was kept hanging around in hope—until a job came along to save me from the aforementioned alternatives.
As for the consumptive girl in my book, the law of libel restrains me from a full explanation: I would merely ask how it was possible for " Minka Salomen " to sink from the age of 15, and possibly earlier, into a state of accelerating consump- tion over a period of seven years during membership of a club devoted to the " welfare of the poor "? It is true that there is a brass plaque in her memory on the club premises, but having known her, I know it is an honour she would gladly have for- gone for the pleasure of being alive.
In conclusion, Dr. Mallon, the tenants of Langdale Mansions do not need your " applause "—after successfully conducting a strike by their own efforts. Equally irrelevant is the accusation that I am not a member of their organisation. It is simple: I do not live amongst them. I look forward to doing so again one day when the creators of London slums and their horrible " product " have disappeared from the face of this earth.—Yours
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