The consequence of this generous treatment of those who are
“work-shy” is that instead of being repelled or reformed by their
treatment, the class is continually on the increase. This
increase has received the serious attention of social reformers,
and in 1904 the president of the local government
board appointed a Reform movement.departmental committee to inquire into
the subject of vagrancy. The committee presented its report in 1906,
which with the evidence of witnesses is a most valuable exposition
of the subject. Among the various recommendations of the committee
the most important were the transference of casual wards to
the control of police authorities; the issue of way-tickets, as used
on the continent of Europe and a very few Eng ish counties, by
the police to bona fide work-seekers, and more especially the detention
of habitual vagrants in labour colonies. This last recommendation
was also that of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws
which reported in 1909, to which those interested are also referred
for valuable information.
The system of way-tickets has been found useful in Germany and Switzerland in assisting the genuine work-seeker on his way and in discriminating between him and the idle vagrant. In Germany those leaving their districts must carry certain papers of identification in addition to a Wanderschein or way-ticket. For the relief of the destitute wayfarer there is the Herberge or lodging-house, maintained by a voluntary society, and the Verpflegungs-station, or relief station, maintained by the local authorities, In each, those in search of work can obtain lodging and food either for a small payment or by the performance of three hours' work, such as wood-chopping or stone-breaking. In Switzerland way-tickets are issued by a society named the Inter-Cantonal Union to those who can prove that they have worked for an employer within the three preceding months, and that at least five days have elapsed since that employment ceased. The Vagrancy Committee recommended that the English way-ticket in book orm should give the man's personal description, his usual trade, his reason for wanting to travel and his proposed destination, and should contain his signature and, possibly, his finger-prints for the purpose of testing identity. The name of each casual ward visited should be stamped on the ticket. The duration of the ticket should be limited to a certain period, possibly a month. With such a ticket, a man should be entitled at the casual ward to a night's lodging, supper and breakfast, and after performing two hours' work to help to pay for his food and lodging he should be free to leave whenever he liked. The name of the next ward on the direct line of his route, which he could reach that night, should be entered on the ticket, and on his arrival at that place he should be treated in the same manner. The ticket would thus form a record of his journey and show whether he was genuinely in search of work.
The remedy which has been considered as most likely to be effective for the cure of habitual Vagrancy in England is that of labour colonies, which have been tried on the continent of Europe with a substantial measure of success. These European labour colonies are described in detail in the Labour colonies.appendices to the Report and Evidence of the Vagrancy Committee and in the books mentioned at the end of this article, but a résumé of the more important colonies may here be given.
Holland.—There are two classes of colonies, both originally established by the Maatschaapij van Weldadigheid (Society of Beneficence), a society founded by General van den Bosch (1780–1844) in 1818. The Free Colonies were designed for the reception of indigent persons, for the purpose of teaching them agriculture, and so enabling them eventua ly to earn their own living independently. There are three of these free colonies, viz. Frederiksoord, Willemsoord and Wilhelminasoord, forming practically one colony, with a population of about 1500. The expenses of the colonies are met by voluntary subscriptions, but it has been found that the persons who enter the free colonies remain there and few fresh cases are received. The number of inmates has been steadily decreasing. The society also maintained Beggar Colonies for the compulsory detention of persons committing the offence of begging. They were more penal than reformatory institutions, and the inmates were taught certain occupations by which they might support themselves on leaving. They did not prove self-supporting and were eventually taken over by the state. The chief institution is that at Veenhuizen, which occupies some 3000 acres of land, and where some 4000 men of the vagrant class are detained for periods varying from not less than six months to not more than three years. 'There is a similar institution for women at Leiden.
Belgium.—In Belgium the institutions for the repression of vagrancy are maintained by the state under a law of November 27th, 1891. They are of three kinds:—(1) Dépôts de mendicité (beggars depots); (2) maisons de refuge (houses of refuge); and (3) écoles de bienfaisance (reformatory schools). The beggars' depots are “ exclusively devoted to the confinement of persons whom the judicial authority shall place at the disposal of the government ” for that purpose, and these are classified as (a) able-bodied persons who, instead of working for their living, depend upon charity as professional beggars; (b) persons, who, owing to idleness, drunkenness or immoralityylive-in ia state of vagrancy; and (c) souteneurs. There are two of these depots: one for men at Merxplas, and another for women at Bruges. Persons are committed to the depots on summary conviction for a period of not less than two years or more than seven years. The population of Merxplas is over 5000; the colonists are employed in land reclamation, farming and various industries. Small daily wages, varying from 1d. to 3d., are paid, but these may be withheld for disciplinary purposes. One half of the wages is retained by the management and paid out to the colonist on leaving, the other half being iven monthly in the shape of tokens to spend at the canteen in articles of food, tobacco, &c.
The houses of refuge are for men who from age or infirmity are unable to work, or who have been driven to begging or vagrancy by the want of work or misfortune. The chief house of refuge is at Hoogstraeten, where the helpless and sick are received; that at Wortel being reserved for the able-bodied. The colonists earn wages ranging from 1d. to 7d. a day, one-third of this being given to them to spend, and they may take their discharge when they have saved 12s. from their earnings or can show that they have work to go to. The maximum period of detention is one year.
Germany.—In Germany there are between thirty and forty labour colonies, under the management of a charitable association, the Labour Colony Central Board. There is however, no compulsory detention. The institutions which deal with vagrants and persons who neglect to maintain themselves are termed “workhouses” (Arbeitshäuser), but they correspond to the compulsory colonies of Belgium and Holland. Under the penal code of 1900, any one (a) who wanders about as a vagabond: (b) who begs, or causes or allows his children to beg; (c) who through gambling, drunkenness or idleness is forced to apply for relief for himself, or those for whose maintenance he is responsible; (d) who while in receipt of public relief refuses to do work given him by the authorities; (e) who after losing his lodging fails to procure another within a certain time, is liable to detention in a workhouse for a period not exceeding two years. The workhouses are under strict military discipline, the inmates being termed prisoners. They are taught domestic, agricultural and industrial occupations.
Switzerland.—Labour colonies are of two kinds, voluntary and compulsory. The voluntar colonies, of which there are three in Switzerland, are managed by philanthropic societies. Entry and discharge are voluntary, but those seeking admission must agree to stay a stated time, usually one or two months. Compulsory colonies are established in every canton, under the management of the cantonal council. Beggars can be arrested, and, if habitual offenders, can be sent to a labour colony for a period varying from six months to two years. If the man is found to have refused work, he can be sent to a labour colony as a “work-shy” for from three months to two years. Owing in great measure to the success of these labour colonies, Vagrancy has considerably diminished in Switzerland, and the colonies everywhere are small; that at Witzwyl, the largest, having less than 200 inmates. Punishment is generally inflicted by reduction of food; the inmates receive no wages, but by industry may earn are mission of their period of detention.
Authorities.—For a history of vagrancy see C. J. Ribton-Turner, History of Vagrants and Vagrancy (1887): See also Reports, Evidence and Appendices of Departmental Committee on Vagrancy, 1906—most valuable publication—as well as The Vagrancy Problem (1910), by W. H. Dawson, who was a witness before the committee, and whose work quoted is full of first-hand information. Two Board of Trade Reports on “Agencies and Methods for dealing with the Unemployed,” 1893 and 1904, will be found useful, as also Rev. W. Carlile and V. W. Carlile's The Continental Outcast (1906).) (T. A. I.)
VAISON, a town of south-eastern France, in the department
of Vaucluse, 26 m. N.N.E. of Avignon by road. Pop. (1906)
2148. The Ouvèze, a tributary of the Rhone, divides Vaison
into two quarters—the Roman and early medieval town on the
right bank, and the town of the later middle ages on the left
bank,—the two communicating by an ancient Roman bridge
consisting of a single arch. On the right bank is the church
(once the cathedral) of Ste Marie, the choir of which is thought to date in parts from the oth century, while the nave belongs to the 12th century. A Romanesque cloister containing a collection of old sculpture flanks the church on the north. Remains of a Roman amphitheatre and the chapel of St Quenin (dedicated to a bishop of the 6th century), with a curious apse of the end of the 11th century, are also to be seen in the old town. On the left bank are the parish church (15th and 16th centuries), remains of the medieval fortifications, and the keep of a castle of the counts of Toulouse. The industries of the town include the manufacture of wooden shoes, bellows and agricultural implements. Vaison, under the name of Vasio, was one of the principal towns of the Vocontii, and was a place of great importance under
