Glimpses into the Abyss Part 21

APPENDIX I.

TRANSFER OF CASUALS TO POLICE SUPERVISION.

The placing of Casual Wards under police authority is a bold step, but one of which the author thoroughly approves. The Report of the Committee on Vagrancy was issued subsequently to the writing of this book. It is in substantial agreement with the author's facts and opinions. The prime necessity for a consistent and uniform national policy will be much better met in the way proposed than by any mere _reform_ of the Tramp Ward.

The policeman, by his constant contact with life of all kinds and by his opportunities for observation, is much more fitted than the isolated Poor-law official for wise treatment of "all sorts and conditions of men." If women were still considered vagrants, grave evils might arise from transfer of casual wards to police authorities. But if all dest.i.tute women can at once claim the protection of the Workhouse, there is no reason why the police should not deal with vagrancy.

Theoretically a dest.i.tute woman can at present enter the Workhouse, but practically there are difficulties. She cannot claim entrance unless she has slept a night in the town and can give her address. If she gives a lodging-house address she would be presumed to be only suitable for the Tramp Ward, if lately come to the town. It is but little considered how much the ancient right of "settlement" continues to hamper the administration of the Poor-law as a provision for dest.i.tution. A case in point is as follows: A woman visiting her husband, from whom she had been parted for years, was given in charge for drunkenness and got a week's imprisonment. She lost her work in a neighbouring town, and returning to her birthplace, being unable to find shelter, took refuge in the Tramp Ward. Next morning she applied for admission to the Workhouse, being quite dest.i.tute. The Relieving Officer told her to apply to the Guardians _the following Wednesday_. It was then Friday.

What was she to do meanwhile? I have selected this incident because it is not implied that the woman was "deserving," and it is evident that the Relieving Officer was justified in using caution in the present state of the law. Nevertheless, it ill.u.s.trates the fact that _immediate shelter pending inquiry_ is, in the case of women, a prime necessity.

Delays in admission, coupled with the fact that re-admission to the Tramp Ward is discouraged, must often, in the case of women, be _fatal_.

Undoubtedly difficulties will arise in the course of transfer, but it is probable that our whole Poor Law system and its relation to the Munic.i.p.ality will be largely modified before long.

The change from an agricultural England to an industrial England and the ma.s.sing of population in large towns, calls for unification of authority in our great industrial centres for effectual dealing with problems of poverty. The proposed change is therefore to be welcomed as one step in the right direction.

It will also solve the knotty problem as to the incidence of local charges and national charges.

APPENDIX II.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF VAGRANCY COMMITTEE.

429. The following is a summary of the princ.i.p.al recommendations made by the Vagrancy Committee.

CASUAL WARDS.

1. Wards to be placed under control of police authority (120-147).[158]

See Appendix I.

2. Existing buildings, where required, to be rented or purchased by police authority (132-3). P. 74.

3. Superfluous wards to be discontinued (130, 133). P. 75.

4. Where practicable, existing officers of wards to be continued in office (135).

5. Where wards adjoin or form part of the workhouse, arrangements to be made with the guardians for supply of stores, heating, etc. (134).

6. Diet to be adequate, and provision to be made for mid-day meal on day of discharge (95, 181, 308-10). Pp. 26, 75.

7. Task of work to be enforced, and to be a time task[159] (93, 148-9).

P. 76.

8. Detention to be for a minimum of two nights, except in case of men with way-tickets (151-2, 180). P. 81.

9. Expenses of wards to be charged to the police fund (129, 136, 142).

Appendix I.

a.s.sISTANCE TO WORK-SEEKERS.

10. Tickets to be issued by the police to persons who are _bona fide_ in search of work (178). P. 81.

11. The ticket to be for a definite route, and available only for a month, with power to police to alter route if satisfied that this is necessary (179, 182). P. 80.

12. The holder of a ticket to be ent.i.tled to lodging, supper and breakfast at the casual ward, and to be able to leave as early as he desires after performing a small task (179-80). Pp. 75, 80.

13. The holder of a ticket to have a ration of bread and cheese for mid-day meal given him on leaving the casual ward in the morning (181).

P. 67.

14. Information as to work in the district to be kept at casual wards and police stations for a.s.sistance of work-seekers (184-5). Pp. 75, 76.

VAGRANCY OFFENCES.

15. Short sentences to be discouraged. Where the sentence is for less than fourteen days, it should be limited to one day, and the conviction recorded (196, 224). Appendix V.

16. Habitual vagrants to be sent to certified labour colonies for detention for not less than six months or more than three years (221-3, 286). P. 72.

LABOUR COLONIES FOR HABITUAL VAGRANTS.

17. Labour colonies for habitual vagrants to be certified by Secretary of State and generally to be subject to regulations made by him (284-5, 304). P. 81.

18. Councils of counties and county boroughs to have power to establish labour colonies, or to contribute to certified colonies established by other councils or by philanthropic agencies (284-5, 287-8). P. 82.

19. Exchequer contribution to be made towards cost of maintenance of persons sent to labour colonies (287-8). P. 75.

20. Subsistence dietary to be prescribed. Inmates to have power to earn small sums of money by their work, and, by means of canteen, to supplement their food allowance (290, 312-5). Pp. 59, 79.

21. Discharge before the conclusion of sentence to be allowed on certain conditions (286). P. 59.

22. Industrial as well as agricultural work to be carried on (299-302).

See Appendix III.

ECONOMY IN BUILDINGS.

23. Buildings for casual wards and in connection with labour colonies to be erected cheaply (291-2, 317-23).

COMMON LODGING-HOUSES (OUTSIDE LONDON).

24. Common lodging-houses to be licensed annually by local authority (326-7). Pp. 46-51.