Child Suffering and Exploitation

The book highlights the plight of children in the slums—abandoned babies, homeless boys, child laborers, and victims of disease—portraying them as the most vulnerable casualties of urban poverty.

The story of Edward Mulhearn illustrates the brutal exploitation of a child, including physical torture and forced begging.

Children are forced to work from a young age, have no room for play, and are vulnerable to disease; a baby is smothered in a fire.

Children work unchallenged from a young age, and a daughter's eyes are failing from strain; the law's protections are nullified in tenements.

Children are depicted as barefoot, hungry, and working alongside parents, with one family of eight surviving on a meager diet and the mother's low wages.