There are no houses of industry in this department for the destitute able-bodied, except that known as the _Depôt de Mendicité_. This institution was first established in the year 1827, with a view to suppress the great number of professed beggars who infested the streets and public walks, taking advantage of any defect of conformation, &c. to attract the notice of passengers. By law all persons found begging in the streets are liable to be taken up, and imprisoned; but instead of imprisonment, those arrested are conveyed to the _Depôt de Mendicité_, where, if able, they are made to work. The good effects of this institution are visible; for instead of the number of professed beggars amounting to 800, which it did before the institution of the establishment, it does not now amount to above 150 or 200. This institution is supported by private contribution. The King and the town contribute a certain portion to make up what may be wanting. The average number of the population of the depôt amounts to 350 souls. Generally speaking, owing to the want of population, employment is to be found in commerce, trade or agriculture. The high price of wages in the towns and in the country proves that work is always to be found. When any unforeseen circumstances have arisen to interrupt the common order of things, the local authorities have come to the assistance of the population, by giving work to those out of employment. Public subscriptions are also resorted to on these occasions. All indigent families, and in which there are those capable of working, but who are not able to obtain it, or whose numbers are so great that all cannot be subsisted, are relieved by the _Bureaux de Charité_. The same relief is given to those who, having a habitation, are unable of themselves, through age or infirmity, to support themselves. The mode of obtaining this relief is by petition, signed by some credible person, and attested by the priest or protestant clergyman. It is proportioned to the number of the family, and to the number of those able to work, and whose wages go to the maintenance of the family. The relief consists in bread, soup, wood for fuel, and sometimes, though rarely, blankets and woollen clothing; medicines for the sick, and broth. Generally speaking, these distributions of food would be insufficient; but most indigent families are assisted by private persons, so that, on the whole, they have wherewithal to sustain life. The annual _distribution à domicile_ (domiciliary relief) amounts to the sum of 100,000 francs (4,000_l._). 3,520 families are relieved. The number of impotent in these families, father and mother included, though able to work, amounts to 9,634, or less than a franc per head per month.