The Vagrancy Problem.: The Case for Measures of Restraint for Tramps, Loafers, and Unemployables: With a Study of Continental Detention Colonies and Labour Houses — John Shaqi
The Vagrancy Problem.: The Case for Measures of Restraint for Tramps, Loafers, and Unemployables: With a Study of Continental Detention Colonies and Labour HousesDawson, William Harbutt
History
The Vagrancy Problem.: The Case for Measures of Restraint for Tramps, Loafers, and Unemployables: With a Study of Continental Detention Colonies and Labour Houses
Dawson, William Harbutt
Poor laws; Poor laws -- Great Britain; Tramps; Unemployed
(2) In the county of Gloucester a count has been made for many years on
a night of April of the numbers sleeping in casual wards and in common
lodging houses, and the results show that the lodging-houses contain
five times as many vagrants as the casual wards. Allowing for vagrants
who sleep out of doors, the ratio would not seriously differ from that
shown by the police enumeration already mentioned. Applying to the
whole country the number of vagrants per thousand of the population of
Gloucestershire, the nomad army would be shown to be 30,000. It should
be remembered, however, that Gloucestershire is a county of small
towns, and lies away from the great streams of population; hence it
should not feel the full effect of the vagrant movement.[8]
(3) An enumeration made on March 17, 1905, by the chief constable
of Northumberland, by means of police officers placed at the most
important points, of vagrants on the roads between the hours of 7.0
a.m. and 7 p.m. gave a total of 300 (exclusive of Newcastle and
Tynemouth), equal to about 1 per 1,000 of the population of the area
covered. On this basis he placed the number of vagrants in England
and Wales at 36,000. Here the omission of two important towns largely
invalidates computation; their inclusion would unquestionably give a
much higher ratio.
[Footnote 8: "In point of distribution through the country vagrancy
is found to cling to the Metropolis and its neighbourhood, and to the
manufacturing and coal and iron mining districts; it follows also the
track of the navvy when any new works of importance are in progress."
Report of Poor Law Commission, Vol. II., pp. 161, 162.]
(4) A careful census of vagrants, beggars, migratory poor, etc., is
taken by the police for each county, city, and burgh police district in
Scotland on two nights in the year, in June and December, showing the
number of these persons in (1) prisons or police cells, (2) homes and
refuges, hospitals and poorhouses, (3) common lodging-houses or other
houses, (4) public parks, gardens or streets, outhouses, sheds, barns,
or about pits, brick and other works. The two counts of 1908 gave the
following result:--
Men. Women. Children. Total.
June 21 6,815 1,843 1,541 10,199
December 27 6,129 1,391 986 8,506
This was equal to 2.1 and 1.8 per 1,000 of the population respectively,
and if these ratios were applied to England and Wales they would
represent aggregates of 76,000 and 63,000.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account