The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-05-26
FRENCH BEGGARS.

little for the suppression of beggary as
France. While Italy and Spain still tolerate
and almost recognize it as profession, and
while the protecting traditions of feudal
times in England and Germany developed
themselves into regular institutions for the
prevention of mendicity, France seems to
have constantly believed that mendcity can
be ordered out Of existence, or that it can be
abolished by severe penal law, without the
necessity of doing anything for the relief of
real poverty and destitution. Every French
historical work of the last $50 years which
attempts to deal with matters beyond battles
and court intrigues, has something to say of
measures taken against beggary, and of the
constant increase of beggars in spite of such
remedies. M. Maxine Du Camp undertook
in the recent number of the Re0ue des Deur
Mondes, to bring together the scattered evil
dence on this subject, and give us an essay
which is the more valuable as considerable
light is shed upon this evidence by the study
NJ Du Camp has made of the present state
of beggary.
There was time when beggars of all the
large towns, and especially those of Paris,
formed almost regular corporation, with a
chief bearing the title of Coesre, who had
whole staff under him; these gentlemen car
ried on their trade, when circumstances al
lowed it, knife in hand. The chief residence
of the Partisan beggsrs was the Cour des
Miracles, and a comparatively recent report
QS49) shows that the enclosure Of Saint
Jean-de-Latran contained twenty years ago q
population of beggars, which gave it IN
cachet Qui rappelse les ancien'aes COurs des
Miracles. The opening of the Rue des Ecoles
and of the Boulevard Saint Germain dispersed
the population of this dangerous quarter
into dark lodging houses, which may be
found in all the various districts of Paris.
The laws against beggars are traceable to the
sixteenth century. An edict of 1924 directs
that beggars shall be whipped and banished;
but this seems not to have had much effect,
for an edict of the following year orders
them to be hanged if they do not leave Paris
forthwith, In 1882 Parliament prescribes
that they should be linked by twos, and en-
ployed to clean the sewers; while an
ordonnance of Charles TX, of 1861,
condemns them to the galleys for life Forty
years later, another ordonnance prescribes that
they shall be publicly fogged, branded, and
have their heads shaved. The municipalities
of many provincial towns did not take such
energetic measures, but invented more
original one of appointing special officers, who,
under the name of chasSe-gUeatg and chdsSe-
coquins had to keep the town clear of beggars
by all appropriate means, including actual
hunting. 1t was under Louis XIV that more
rational steps were first taken for the pre-
vention rather than the punishment of men
dicity. In 1867 the Hopital- (con-
sisting of the three branches of Notre- Dame
de la Pitie, La Salpetriere and Bicetre) was
opened, and Paris got rid of something like
10000 beggars. Old soldiers were the only
kind Of beggars who still remained in the
streets until the opening Of the Hotel des
Invalides.
Yet even these measures did not answer for
any considerable length of time, for the pro-
vinces sent new masses of beggsrs into Paris,
and in 1858 the old law about the galleys for
life was again promulgated. Some twenty
years later still greater effort was made to
put stop to the evil by decreeing that every
should be fined fifty livres. In 1719 Law
proposed to transport beggars to America,
and the Compagnle d'Oecident was author
| lied to carry away as many men, women, and
children as it chose from all the branches of
the Hopital- General. But this also did not
help much, for few years later
the law of galley and branding pun
ishment was again in full vigor. The
number of beggars, however, was hardly
SO great at that time, and the measures taken
during the Revolution probably still lessened
it; for in 1920 kind of workshops is esta-
blished upon the proposal of La Rochefou-
cauld- -Liancourt, and Necker declares to the
Assembly that the King keeps des ateIiers de
charite for $4,000 persons. Under the Direc-
tory considerable amount of tolerance was
exhibited, and the number of beggars in
creased again very largely; 80 that finally the
Government was again forced to take mea-
sures for driving them at least out of Paris
into the country, where, under the cover Of
royalistic favor, they carried on brigandage
and incendiarism on most extensive scale.
The Code Penal finally settled the men
deity laws which are in operation nowadays.
Article PA declares that any person found
begging in any part of the country where
there are institutions for the relief of the
poor is to be punished with from three to six
months imprisonment, after which he is to
be sent to the depot de mendicite, while Article
277 declares that beggar found in possession
of arms, or of an implement prOpre Pstrdc-
ton, is to be sent to prison for term of from
two to five years. The Second Empire having
done very much in the way of establishing
charitable institutions, these mendicity laws
are carried out with great severity.
After the sentence has expired the
beggar is transported from the prison to one
of the depots de mendicite, Saint Denis OF
Villers- Cotterets, where he is bound to work
in any trade he is fit for, and where he is
kept until his earnings with q deduction for
the cost for his maintenance, amount to q
sum which is considered sufficient to give
him start. It is for the authorities to de-
eide upon this matter, according to the cir
cumstances of each case, and to the number
of times which the beggar has been convicted
The total of these prisoners amounted in
/ 1863 to 25oo at st. Denis and to 81 at Vii
: lers-C -Cotterets, In both cases the number oi
men being double that of women. OF the
first of these establishments M. Du Camp
, speaks in very unfavorable terms
La maison de repression de Saint Denis est lie plu
= immonde clOaque qui Sc puisse yoir Dspuis uu