The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1874-04-14 00:00:00

DORNET )lENDICITY SINIETY.

A meeting uf this society tuuk pla:e at the Shirelsall
la,t Tuesday afteruuun. the Vi..euunt preddimr.
There were aim.. pre,ent—l.ohl I Mr. Patten, l'ulonel
Cox, the Rue. V. W. flingh%ut. Mr. B. P. t:undry. the
!tee. W. f;.msiden, the ite‘..l. IL ton rim.,ett, and Mr.
Tsorte.ltulloets. with Captain Anlystt
Constable, the Ism. secretary suet originator of the
f.diussan4 report W 34 pre•ottol

" 7tl. April. 1-74.
" My bola and thititlcnirn.•- I to lay lit 4.4, pm Cie
r.;.ort of the lhoNet 1.. r (hr year I,: ;, am.l
mut:LAI to hr :INV 1., that, errat as :umber's the rr-Inct,ol
in viMr4ii.-In Ih.r.et, bronwht to your notice [non ye-4r to
par. Wore the formation .4 this *4.4 lu (ho Mums
for the itset twelve month,. i.how • further diminution, the
number of ragraut adotileious to unions thmughout the
county having amounted during the year 1173 to only 2,000

(these figures represent In realty about 030Indivkleals), being
a reduction of b per cent. on 1671, and of more than 76 per
cont. on 131). The expectations as to the success of this
',moat of ikolii4; with vxgroucy hove thus been fully
r allsol, an-1 the resuitt have proved that, by ettablishlng a
,ystein which ghat ensure 10.4 to an wayfaroe & whole
only nuy hc conearatively freed from bearonii, wink, at the
aonte time the public mn, at an almost noininoi onat, guilds
love, t , all ,o‘ionts who really need It. The tle.eu which
been (sill. vted from the 73 rebel stations show that
doring the peat year 3,900 hare been exchanged for bread, so
that the sock ty hat Orea 4W19, •itlrilligl.4 1...ri0d 1 ton 15
cat of bread to sing!. putmila The rtuipts and expenditure
hove been u follow*:

;-/I;;;;76 .-..ital;n.c.l In hand lit January, 1873, C2O l6s.
subsaiptl.ats aid min of lickcts, ess 13a. 7.l—total, 479
19a 4,1.

writ. re. —raid for bread, £32 11.. 6,1. ; statlntielr
and l'rflat3g. I 3 es 21. ; tostage eel parcels, I. 3d. ; colt
lectors' comatissior., LI Ig.; sating bills, Is. —L4B Irt !hi- I
balance hi hand lit January. 1674, CIO Its. W.-- C*9 lOs. 41.
"I venture once more to direct attention to the great
al-creasy in the numb. r of committals under the Vagrant Act,
the total for Itt7.i being 32. es compared with 2AI in IVA
There esti be but little doubt that the fact oi tlivre being no
few p.a....es wandering through the county without atir risible
meals a subsistence has also contributed In no entail degree
towards the gratifylog reduction In the number of petty
larcenies and other offeaces, which the randy criminal retures
tlw eat year 1... w sh or. These moults, it is hoped, may
sontnlensi satisfactot7. geeing bow great has been the
then se during the pact four years, any further retheal an
conned he expected, tell the alone foes U:stify that the re-
! r..ssioa of tagraney recta mainly with the public, and It is
earitestly hol,l that they will contione to support a system
a bleb has hitherto pnwed mostssful in dealing with this owlet
ouestion."—l &v., AIdiTATT !Mows.
Viscount Minolta, in movitt.: its aloption. said
Nothing can Ise IS gratifying as lid-. report, boc;stise it not
oaly shows the ouet-eas of the ay dent by an immense
dimination of vagrants, but it also ohows that poor
people oho want ltmati have it given to them, so that no
one ran say any man paosing through the cottaty has not
that alms le-offal for his support. lint .tow fact shoot.]
not b.: lost oight of, vir-, that 4the last fe.v msoi sus and
the last assizes till' ctai,m,iuealm linnialit for trial hare
searrely been men of the ea-Taut flus:l as they ti.asl ta I.e.
Most ad the men for trial. when I was tirot Chairman of
Quarter Sessions, were front all parts of England, anti
charged will, petty critnea, that suet of man dealt in. AA
Colnind (..7iia knows well, in his time that sew the claini of
men he had nest trouble with. Bait in all the later
calendar.; the criminals lutve been Dorset people—nu
son.y fur it for the sake of Dorset - but it proves that the
Dorset vagrancy system hat work.sl excetalingly wall;
an.l there I. this much to be said for Dorset that the
criminals' have been very few: an this occasion there is
one itri -ones% at the assizes there were but few, and at the
sessions before but few, while the offence, are tris
simply stealing barley, wheat, and so forth. do that in
point of fact the countY may give credit to ('apt. AnlYatt
Drown for having worked out this scheme, it owes him a
great debt of gratitude for it, and I feel sure this meeting
will not fail to thank hint for the report this year to
better than that of the year before, and iustitimi all that
has been tuld in favour of the vagrancy system which he
persuaded this County to adopt, and act an example which
I an. happy to may some others have followed—(applause.)
Loan Inner seconded the motion, and it Was cortical
tarns. d;s. .

The 110 N. SW. iitated there was at present a balance of
£3O in hand, which was owing in a great measure to a
decrease in the expenditure, but he intimated that the
expenses mull not he expected to be lers than at present.
In revaril to the siiliscriptiiiml. Capt. Atuyatt BROWN
said they were nothing liko in amount what they were the
rim rear; the last total being Lss, whereas the first year
thby mreiveil £l3O. A. to the contributions of Unions,
ii wits light Gene Abbas gave Cl ba. Od.. and Bcaminster
thi? least corn—Cl

—......
BINONAII said they did not stili.rribe more because
they knew the treasurer had inoney in hand. The hon.
magistrate added that he had wily given away two
tickets since the society was established.
Lord Droar said his house was chwe to a public road,
an.l be fonnil he had nothing like the number of vagratiui
calling now as he used to have.
The meeting then separated.