The Dark Side of East London by David Charnick

Author:David Charnick [Charnick, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Great Britain, General, Political Science, Corruption & Misconduct, Law Enforcement
ISBN: 9781473856455
Google: OFCWDQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2016-10-31T01:42:52+00:00

This leads swiftly to an admission that he never visited the crib rooms: ‘Certainly I never did; I left them to the management of Mr Jennings’.

Warburton has been distancing himself from blame, admitting that his assurances that all is well at the White House are based not on his own knowledge, but on his trust in the manager: ‘I have such confidence in the superintendent, Mr Jennings’ (p.74). Selfpreservation seems to be leading Warburton to abandon Jennings and retreat behind a wall of denial. He does not deny that such confinement is happening in the crib rooms, he admits that Jennings has been keeping the practice from him.

From here, Gordon is able to undermine the Master’s expressions of confidence in his manager. He asks, ‘is it not extremely possible that Mr Jennings may have concealed other abuses from you?’ Warburton has to reply, ‘I think it possible’ (p.80). Gordon then asks whether Warburton intends to retain Jennings as manager of the White House, a daring question since there has been no hint of any such doubt, but clearly Gordon understands Warburton, who replies, ‘Perhaps I may, but I have not made up my mind as to that’. This admission will be a tool which Gordon can use when on the next day he is able to question Jennings himself.

His unsettling experience before Gordon clearly has an effect on Warburton. The following day, after Jennings has given his evidence, John Warburton is called to give evidence because of his father’s ‘indisposition’. The son’s answers are more considered, and the phrase ‘I believe’ begins to qualify his statements as Gordon’s questions become more probing, and towards the end of his evidence, he is giving yes/no answers. Significantly he admits with a single ‘yes’ that he depends entirely on Jennings for his knowledge of the treatment of the patients in the crib room, as he has never visited it on a Sunday, or seen the confined cases released on a Monday. When, on the following day, medical attendant John Dunston gives his evidence, Gordon is quick to establish that Dunston too relies largely on Jennings: ‘If I do not happen to see a case, it is pointed out to me’ (p.103).

When Jennings, the man on whom everyone seems to rely, gives his evidence, his poor management of the White House becomes obvious. The Committee are looking to discredit the private establishments, and Jennings’ mismanagement of the White House provides the best means to illustrate the evils of the present system. Apart from the treatment of the crib room patients, there are more overarching problems with the White House.

One of them is the unhealthy lack of ‘classification’, the separation of different kinds of patient which Jennings claims is at the heart of his curative approach. The male pauper patients are divided into three rooms but, under questioning, Jennings admits that they are not kept confined into their appropriate rooms; instead they are able to wander around and mingle with each other: ‘Then there is no classification in your day rooms?’ ‘Not shut up completely’ (p.

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