The  poorer  classes  are  to  be  met  with  in  all  parts  of  the  city,
but  they  are  most  numerous  along  the  East  and  North  rivers,
and  between  Fourteenth  and  Canal  streets.  The  majority
of  them  are,  beyond  a  doubt,  honest,  and  willing  to  work,  and
in  times  of  great  commercial  activity  nearly  all  can  find  some
means  of  employment ;  but  in  dull  seasons,  when  merchants
and  manufacturers  are  forced  to  discharge  their  employ&i,
thousands  are  thrown  out  of  work,  and  the  greatest  suffering
and  distress  prevail  in  the  poor  districts.  Besides  these  there
are  thousands  of  vagrants,  drunkards,  and  disreputable  per-
sons, who  would  rather  steal,  or  beg,  than  work,  and  whose
misery  is  frightful.
24A


THE    SECRETS   OF   THE   GREAT   CITT.  245

We  must  not  be  understood  as  intimating  that  all  -who  de-
sire employment  can  procure  it  in  New  York.  Indeed  the
contrary  is  the  case.  Labor  and  skill  of  almost  every  kind
are  in  excess  here.  For  every  position  of  regular  labor  there
are  at  least  five  applicants,  so  that  four  fifths  of  the  poor  have
to  resort  to  any  and  all  means  to  maintain  an  honest  existence.
Some  of  these  means  it  is  our  purpose  to  notice  separately.
THE    LOWEST   DEPTHS.
