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
"Here was also the clothing store. The cloth is made throughout by
the colonists, with the one exception of the 'fulling' process, which
requires special machinery. The material was of several different
kinds, including two varieties for officers' uniform, and all that
is required for the winter and summer clothing of the colonists.
Civilian clothes and tools, also made in the colony, can be purchased
by the colonists when they are liberated. In the centre were several
large rooms full of the private clothes and other belongings of the
colonists, each in their own bag, and all remarkably free from any
offensive odour.
"The farming seemed to be carried on on the same excellent principles
as the workshops. The crops of maize and hemp were remarkably tall
(the latter supplies the raw material for rope making), and the fields
generally seemed thoroughly worked and tilled. The cowhouse and
piggeries were very clean, and all the buildings were of excellent
design and well-built. A large number of horses and oxen are kept for
farm work, as not much spade cultivation is used. There is a large
herd of milking cows to supply the hospital, and a considerable number
of young stock and sheep are also kept, the latter being housed and
hand-fed in winter. The whole of the products are consumed in the
colony, and, as is the practice in the shops, very little machinery is
used, whilst a large amount of labour is employed in bringing fresh
ground under cultivation. The sandy top-soil is first removed and
immense quantities of Antwerp street sweepings and clay rubbish are
put on. Large gangs are also employed in hand-weeding, and all the
advantages of farming with abundance of cheap labour are conspicuous."
The accounts of a recent year show proceeds of trades as follows: Mat
making, £4,200; weaving, £5,753; shoe making, £1,324; brick paving,
£1,266; forge and foundry, £1,847; tobacco, £1,671; tanning, £1,852;
tailoring, £3,600; furniture, £1,346, and brick making, £1,913. The
profits on twenty-six trades in 1907 were said to be £4,072.
The usual work-day consists of about ten hours in summer, and between
seven and nine in winter, broken by three intervals for meals and rest.
The day's routine is as follows:--
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account